How to Stop Panic Attacks [4 Ways]

Before exploring these four powerful ways to stop panic attacks, it will help tremendously to understand why such attacks happen in the first place. To keep things simple, panic disorder can be thought of as resulting from mismanaged anxiety. Anxiety itself is nothing unusual - it's the sensation of adrenaline that arises when we're fearful of a perceived danger. But whereas it's easy to resolve physically dangerous situations by removing ourselves from them, that's not always the case with anxiety caused by daily worries – about work, health, social situations, or any aspect of life where a negative outcome is possible. But how does anxiety transform into panic attacks? Well, eventually one's mental environment can become so layered with negative expectations that the subconscious mind gets confused and sends a warning to the body that you're in a physically dangerous situation. In turn, the body releases adrenaline to prepare you for fighting or fleeing from that threat. Unfortunately, since the threat here is unseen, there is nothing to fight, and nowhere to flee. Worse yet, without a physical threat or negative thought present, many people don't realize why the sensation has arisen, and therefore they get fearful of the anxiety sensation itself. This fear of the sensation then causes more adrenaline, which in turn creates more fear, which leads to more adrenaline, and so on. This spiraling escalation of fear quickly leads to a panic attack. Stop the panic attack spiral The description above explains how panic escalates due to a simple misunderstanding of where the adrenaline sensation is coming from. However, now that you realize this to be a normal self preservation reaction, the best thing you can do to prevent anxiety from becoming panic is to not fear it. How do you do that? Well, instead of trying to suppress or mentally avoid those scary anxiety sensations, instead mentally embrace all those sensations in your body as soon as you notice a panic attack starting. Doing this takes a little faith at first, because those feelings can seem terrifying, but confronting that initial fear can be a real key to freedom from panic. If you feel too overwhelmed to try this on your own, consider having a professional guide you through the process, perhaps combining some form of talk therapy. But in most cases, you can develop this skill of self therapy independently. Dissolve negativity with one positive thought I've spent years, probably thousands of hours, repeating positive affirmations and listening to subliminal audios in an effort to become a more positive thinker. But after all that, there has been only one single change in my belief system that has probably accounted for 99% of my recovery from anxiety and panic attacks. That one awesome belief is "I can handle it". You see, just about all modern worry and fear grows from our false mental perception that we will not be able to cope with some future event. But that's absolutely untrue. The actual truth is that you've probably already gone through situations that are very similar to ones that you're worrying about today. But the fact that you survived those situations before is a pretty good indication that you'll probably make it through just fine if those worst case scenarios ever happen again. Yes, you may have associated those events with some pretty uncomfortable emotions, but if you can adopt this one new thought of "I can handle anything that ever happens", then worry, anxiety and panic attacks will eventually dissolve into that new mental environment. It takes some practice, but just remember that whatever you currently think, "I can handle it" is actually the truth. Just say no to caffeine It may be a legal drug, but if you're experiencing anxiety, then it's time to recognize caffeine for what it really is – a nervousness system stimulant. The body sensation induced by caffeine is often characterized by nervousness and increased anxiety, and this can actually initiate the panic attack spiral! Now I do understand that caffeinated beverages are a very standard component of many peoples daily lives, and a little caffeine may seem relatively harmless. But if you're having anxiety issues, try at least temporarily eliminating caffeine from your diet. You might discover that this food industry dream drug is having more of an impact on your emotional life than you realized. Can exercise really stop panic attacks? Yes! Just think, humans have been evolving for millions of years, but up until recently there was no such thing as a plane, train, car, or bus. Before that, most of our transportation was done by foot. Now, in the blink of an evolutionary eye, we're sitting in workplaces and classrooms all day, taking motorized transportation to and from our destinations, and in some cases getting just a tiny fraction of the physical activity that our bodies were designed for. And all that excess body energy can easily transform into anxiety. If you've been overlooking this fact, exercise can be a powerful key to stopping panic attacks surprisingly fast. Experiment with various forms of exercise to determine which mix gives you the most benefit. For example, some people swear by jogging, while others enjoy swimming or bicycling, while others get the most benefit from resistance training. Whatever you choose, you'll likely find that panic attacks become much less common and/or less severe once you're not so overloaded with excess body energy. Important note To wrap up, I do want to mention that I am not a licensed doctor, so please consider this information only as my personal perspective. While I personally and completely overcame anxiety and panic disorder using these techniques (which were never suggested to me during over a year in counseling), don't hesitate to consult a professional if you feel that my approach is not right for you.