How to Stop a Panic Attack in Its Tracks
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Panic attacks are extremely uncomfortable experiences that cause fleeting but intense feelings of fear and physical reactions to everyday, nonthreatening situations. They’re fairly common, with up to 11 percent of Americans experiencing a panic attack each year, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Panic attacks are linked to various mental health conditions. They’re the hallmark symptom of panic disorder, but can also occur alongside other conditions, such as generalized anxiety disorder, phobias, or mood disorders.
Common symptoms include chest pain, rapid heart beat, difficulty breathing, trembling, sweating, intense fear, nausea, or feeling like you might die. Panic attacks usually last 5 to 20 minutes, and although they’re not harmful to your physical health, they can worsen your quality of life over time and they’re linked to an increased risk of suicidal thoughts or behaviors, per the Cleveland Clinic.
That’s why it’s so important to know how to manage panic attacks when they do happen, especially if you have them repeatedly.
“For those with a history of panic attacks, knowing how to manage them can help either halt them before they start or develop confidence in themselves so that if they have one, they know they can work through it,” says Joel Frank, PsyD, a clinical psychologist in private practice in Los Angeles.
“By building their self-confidence in managing panic attacks, the fear and other emotions traditionally associated with panic attacks can feel less significant, and they are more equipped to process them in the moment,” he says.
5 Hacks to Help Stop a Panic Attack
How can you end panic attacks? First and foremost, if you’re having panic attacks (or think you might be), it’s important to see a mental health professional for treatment if you haven’t done so already, especially if they’re interfering with your life or your ability to function, says Dr. Frank.
“While panic attacks can feel significant, isolating, and overwhelming, they are treatable,” says Frank. “Working with a trained professional to develop strategies for managing them is important.”
The most common and effective treatments for panic attacks are psychotherapy (aka “talk therapy”) and medication, according to Cleveland Clinic. Along with professional treatment, there are other tried-and-true strategies you can use to curb a panic attack when it happens. These five can help.
1. Deep Breathing Exercises
Relaxation techniques like deep breathing can help ease panic attack symptoms, according to Mayo Clinic. In fact, deep breathing is one of the most helpful strategies to help stop a panic attack, according to Tracy Sciulli, a licensed professional counselor at Philadelphia Integrative Psychiatry, who says she also experiences panic attacks herself.
“If someone is already escalating into a panic attack, cognitive or thinking-based strategies won’t work,” she explains. “That’s because your body is too far into the fight-or-flight response to have your cognitive processes fully accessible” she says.
That’s when body-based strategies like deep breathing — specifically, slowing down your breathing by exhaling for longer than your inhale — is usually more effective, she adds. This can help reduce hyperventilation (rapid breathing), a common symptom of panic attacks.
Another specific breathing technique called “box breathing” can also help, adds Frank.
“Imaging the breath cycle is tracing a box,” he says. “The person breathes in for four seconds, holds for four seconds, exhales for four sections, and then holds for four seconds. This technique can be repeated until the person feels calmer.”
2. Grounding Techniques
Grounding techniques are strategies that help you reconnect with the present moment if you’re feeling overwhelmed by panic, stress, or anxiety, according to the University of New Hampshire.
Grounding yourself to the environment around you can help distract you from the overwhelming emotions you may be experiencing during a panic attack and force you to focus on something other than the thoughts in your head, Frank explains.
“Grounding techniques attach us to the real world around us and draw us out of our minds, which may spiral or overwhelm the body during a panic attack,” he adds.
One popular grounding technique is called a five-sense countdown. “First, the person looks around and identifies five objects,” says Frank. “Then, they touch four things. Next, they identify three things they hear. For two, the person talks about two things they smell. Finally, the person identifies one taste sensation.”
3. Ice Cubes or Cold Water
Some people who have panic attacks may feel uncomfortably hot while having one, according to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
That’s one reason distraction through intense sensations, such as cold and ice, can be very effective in managing a panic attack. Even the simple act of holding an ice cube in your hand can be a powerful strategy to refocus your attention elsewhere and pull you out of a panicked state, adds Frank.
Placing a cold, wet washcloth on the back of your neck or briefly dunking your face into a bowl of ice water can have a similar effect, per UNMC. “Feeling the water running over your face or hands, the cold sensation, and feeling it dry over time can be used as a tactile meditation and help draw a person to the present moment of the water and away from their panic,” Frank explains.
4. Sour Candy or Spicy Foods
Certain foods could help pull you out of a panicked state, too, says Frank. “Eating sour candy and hot sauce can both be valuable distraction techniques,” he notes.
Like with ice cubes and cold water, eating foods with very strong flavors — think Warheads (an extremely sour candy), horseradish, or wasabi, per UNMC — can help pull a person out of a panicked state and redirect their focus.
RELATED: Can Sour Candy Stop a Panic Attack?
5. Acupressure or Pressure Point Massage
Acupressure (a form of massage therapy that applies pressure on specific points throughout the body) may be useful for managing panic attacks, says Frank.
Acupressure has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to help relieve stress by rubbing and putting pressure on certain pressure points on the body, according to Hackensack Meridian Health. The practice is still used today to help relieve anxiety, stress, and more.
“A primary strategy for managing panic is distracting away from the current overwhelming experience or breaking the mental fixation on it,” says Frank. “These techniques have the same effect as tactile meditation when the person refocuses their mind on the pressure and sensation.”
You can either see a massage therapist for acupressure, or you can massage these pressure points yourself at home to help you feel more calm and relaxed, Hackensack Meridian Health notes. Before you try it at home, consider having a professional show you how to do this correctly. Acupressure points that may help calm you, per Hackensack Meridian Health, include:
- Top of Your Head Rub the exact center of the top of your head using circular motions.
- Between Your Eyebrows Gently massage the area between your eyebrows, above the bridge of your nose, using small, circular motions.
- Where Your Shoulders and Neck Meet Use your thumb to gently massage the area at the base of your neck. If you have difficulty reaching this area, try using a massage tool or tennis ball instead.
- Between Your Thumb and Pointer Finger Gently pinch the webbing in this area gently with your other opposite thumb and forefinger and hold the position. This area of your hand contains a stress-relieving pressure point.
- Between Your Big and Second Toe Like with the webbing on your hand, pinching the webbing between your big and second toe may help you feel calmer.
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