I’d like to share a secret on how to stop panic attack.
Are you ready?
Here it is…
The secret on how to stop panic attack is this: there is no secret. The fact is, you cannot stop panic attack once it commences. The best thing you can do are the following:
1. Allow the panic attack to play out, since it should last for less than 30 minutes; and
2. Avoid doing anything irrational based on feelings of terror and dread which are, though unrealized at the time, also irrational.
There are a number of ways by which you can remedy the symptoms of a panic attack, but you are completely helpless as to the duration of the episode. Establishing a relaxing breathing pattern, reciting coping statements, engaging in diversionary activities, seeking the company of a person who will remind you of what is real and what is not, and even the intake of anti-anxiety medication like benzodiazepine are not ways on how to stop panic attack. They are not solutions. They are not cures. They are just methods that will help alleviate the plight of the person suffering from an episode.
Just to reiterate, once a panic attack starts, there is no way one can put a stop to it.
However, panic attacks can be avoided. There is no certainty as to a complete prevention of episodes, of course, but the chances of an attack will be significantly lessened.
How to stop panic attack this way?
First, the trigger for the panic attack must be determined. There are many possible triggers for extreme anxiety, ranging from genetics, to existing psychological disorders like phobias and the likes, to personal tragedies, to constant exposure to stressful environments, to particular medications and how your body reacts to the same, to withdrawal from certain addictions, to consequences of specific illnesses, to particular situations that evoke tension and nervousness. Knowing what, exactly, causes your panic attack episodes – or knowing the trigger that has the highest likelihood of causing panic attacks in your life – would be a good first step in avoiding such a fate.
Once the trigger, or the potential trigger, is distinguished, half the battle would have been won as avoidance of the cause would also mean avoidance of the result.
Not really a secret on how to stop panic attack, right? Too simplistic, you might even say.
But stopping the possibility of a panic attack need not be complicated, after all. It’s a causal dichotomy that can easily be manipulated.
The false belief that there is indeed a secret on how to stop panic attack is what makes matters more confusing than they really are.
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Thanks for writing, I really liked reading your latest post. I think you should post more frequently, you obviously have natural ability for blogging!
This is terrible advice - avoiding the situation that causes panic attacks can seriously disrupt a person’s life: the person who suffers from social phobia and knows that the panic attacks are worse when at work can’t exactly just give up the job, give up struggling to communicate with friends and become an unemployed, unsatisfied with life, recluse. Telling people to avoid the situation is telling them that panic attacks have defeated them and they can’t do anything about their problems - this is not true.
Avoidance behaviour is part of the problem - the longer the person has not faced the situation that causes them so much plight, the harder it is to imagine doing so. The more the fear manifests itself, the worse the panic attacks become when finally faced with this situation - people can’t avoid it forever. Avoidance behaviour is a major cause of panic attacks having got so bad that people become jobless, friendless, and unable to leave their homes - hardly a good life.
Avoiding the issue won’t solve the problem. People have to find out WHY they are taking panic attacks and why they are occuring in these ‘trigger’ situations. It’s not enough to realise that panic attacks are occuring in one person when faced with an embarrassing situation - they have to find some sort of understanding as to why panic has become associated with embarrassment.
The more a person throws themselves into the deep end, the faster they’ll realise that, while panic attacks are horrible, they don’t have to stop them from living and they’re not the end of the world. Lack of fear of a panic attack will reduce the potency of such an attack.
Ways of preventing panic attacks would be to stop anticipating them in the situations that they normally occur. Dread of a panic attack normally results in one. Another way is to become very adept at recognising the symptoms as they slowly begin to take hold and before they become a full blown panic attack - focusing the mind on what the person is doing at the time of the beginning of the attack and away from the feelings of panic itself and refusing to think about the feelings until the danger has passed and the person is no longer in the situation that is their trigger is a great way for preventing an attack.
First panic attack = avoidance of the situation that caused initial attack = fear of situation = worse panic attacks = more anticipation of attacks and further fear of situation = more panic attacks = situation becomes impossible to face = anxiety and depression over being unable to ‘handle’ situation = feelings of general unease = panic starts to poison other ares of life until panic attacks begin to be completely out of control.
panic attacks = confronting situation where panic attacks are caused = horrible panic attack but feeling of accomplishment that situation has been faced = continually confronting situation = more confidence = less panic attacks = less fear = take enough panic attacks with a more level head to learn the onset symptoms = weaker panic attacks = situation much more manageable = panic attacks may never be completely cured but at least are under control.
Hi Natasha,
I hear what you are saying, but if you read the article again, you might see that we are on the same page here
Avoiding the situation is definately not going get rid of anxiety or panic attacks. By no means am I recommending that someone runs away, because yes, indeed panic attacks then win the battle.
You have a very valid point on how to stop panic attacks with your confrontation advice.
Thanks for the constructive comment!