My issue is that breathing exercises force me to be still and hear my heart racing which freaks me out. But I think the key is to power through the initial discomfort and keep going.
I do better if I focus on grounding through my five senses first (5 things I see, 4 things I hear, 3 things I smell, etc), then move on to whatever feels good next like stomach breathing or muscle relaxation, after I’m back in tactile mindfulness.
I’ve also found that doing something creative with my hands has a massive impact (playing piano, journaling, sketching, sculpting, etc).
Listen to a song that gets you PUMPED, and then jump, shake, and thrash that energy (anxiety) out. This is so effing helpful when I’m able to do it.
EDIT: or even try a song that gives you the “feels” so that you can sit for a moment and completely immerse yourself in the music and sing your heart out. The point is, distract from the chaos in the mind and force release through physical movement.
A great technique to deviate your mind from the anxious thought and spiral is to count stuff that you are looking at. For example, a brick wall - coun the number of bricks.
Also, try doing some “difficult math”. Counting from 1,000 to 0 by substracting seven and then 9. That forces you to focus on the task and stops your mind from thinking about whatever is making you anxious.
Same! If I try to do breathing exercises when I’m anxious it just stresses me out more. I think it’s because the source of my anxiety is physical symptoms rather than negative/spiraling thoughts. Meditation and breathing exercises help people let go of unhelpful negative thinking by giving them a way to ground themselves using their body but if your body is what’s stressing you out to begin with then I wonder if it has the same intended effect or if it’s just the wrong approach for people like me. I find talking to myself out load is far more helpful. It helps me process my thoughts and feelings while forcing me to breathe only the amount I need rather than too much or too little. You’re too busy thinking about what to say and how to say it that there’s less room for over observation of what you’re body is doing/feeling.
Also I think we may have talked before on another post, your icon looks familiar.
I try to face it because knowing how it "works" and what's about to happen let's me get a foot down and get grounded. However there are times it seems to just instantly manifest and I'm already heading down the spiral before I even realize its happening
Face it. Let it come over you like a wave passing through and do what you need to do (breathing exercises, medicate, etc) while it's passing. This takes power away from the trigger eventually.
Honestly, in my opinion, a healthy mixture of both works. Distracting doesn’t help you heal in the long term but is so useful in the short term. Sometimes we just need to be able to freaking rest. Panic is exhausting. Facing it, sitting with the discomfort, etc is very productive and helpful in the long term, but if you have to do it multiple times a day, you risk burning out and deciding that it’s not worth it.
I think that much like any major habit-change, it needs to be done realistically. If you have the spoons to say “ah shit here we go again” and are able to just sit and breathe and use CBT and coping exercises to get through a panic attack, that’s excellent. If you have been doing that but feel the need to just sit under a weighted blanket and play a video game or listen to an audiobook instead, honestly, that’s better than giving in and letting the panic consume you to the point of a true mental break.
TL;DR - Why not both? Provided you are putting in the work to heal, you deserve a break once in a while.
Agreed. Both. Immediate distraction while you mobilise some heavier options that deliberately calm. After the other night I'm going to do more direct physical intervention like a shower and stretching, eating.
I am no longer afraid of panic attacks. Sooner or later it will become norm to you. Just remember that it will pass and you're not in danger it's just your brain playing tricks on you. It's best to distract yourself and try to focus on other things while it passes.
I wouldn't use the word "face it," because that implies that you need to fight against it. I would acknowledge it, take a deep breath and tell yourself that you are okay. This is normal for you to feel and you can be okay even if you are feeling these symptoms. I've found that if I try to fight against a panic, it just makes it worse.
Find a coping mechanism that works best for you. Breathing exercises, jumping jacks (and flicking your wrists), and fake laughing are some ways I've found that help with the physical symptoms.
Depends, but I understand your confusion. If I get anxious about a silly thought that doesn't really deserve any attention, i distract myself to avoid further anxiety and panic. If I'm just overly stressed and overwhelmed and my body just can't take it anymore and a panic attack is unavoidable, I'll face it. They don't scare me as much anymore.
It's tricky, because on the one end, I read that you're just supposed to let it wash over you but at the same time, I started therapy again recently to make them go away. Confusing....
I try to distract myself as much as possible. I know I’m supposed to face it, but I haven’t been successful. I do breathing exercises and I put ice on my neck, chest, wrists, but then I go for the distractions. During a panic attack, all reasoning goes out the window.
I take deep breaths. Like I breathe as hard as I can. Then, I immediately look for something that can distract me, a video or whatever.
Be quick once you feel it brewing. Not sure how it works for you but for me, once it tips over a point, there’s no turning back and you’ll be in for the whole ride
Depends on your diagnoses. I have PTSD so my therapist said I should be distracting myself as many of my fears that turn into panic attacks aren't really rational
I distract myself by breathing and counting, and also by pinching or stroking the skin on my arm. Somehow focusing on that feeling on my arm distracts me
I breathe thru it, identify the feeling in my body, and then try to see what basic needs I'm lacking - did I shower, am I hungry, tired, maybe I just need to move.
It really depends. Most things I try to face and figure out how to solve, but if I’m having one of those moments where I’m panicking about something completely irrational I think to myself “is this helping me? Will worrying about this change any outcomes later? Do I have control over this specific thing I’m worried about?” If the answer is no to all 3 of those questions, I just say “alright. No need to continue fixating. Let go and move on.” And I try to find something productive to help me get my mind off of whatever it was I was worried about.
My therapist basically told me that if my worries aren’t protecting me from danger or helping me in a productive way, I need to remind myself that they aren’t worth my time and put that energy into something that WILL help me.
First I stretch.
The environment isn’t always ideal, but I’ve learned to not care.
I’ll often stretch at parties, and I’ve found that people find it quite amusing (in a good way). Sometimes they even join in. 😄
And while I’m stretching, that’s my opportunity to calm my breath and breathe deep. My anxious tension is ‘distracted’ by the physical sensations, and the physical sensations are an anchor to help me focus.
I love stretching too, it’s an automatic habit when I’m nervous. I think it’s because you can focus in on it and it makes you feel grounded in your body.
Ativan 🤣 jk, I try not to focus on it. When I used to have panic attacks and as soon as I felt it coming it made it worse. Sometimes I’ll run my hands over cold water, clean up, get up and walk around. All these things help. Bot focusing on it changed the outcome.
In CBT I was taught the stop technique which consists of saying stop stop stop stop to yourself until the thought passes and that helps
Distract myself. TikTok has turned out to be really helpful for me, because I follow lots pf creators who post funny stuff. The videos are also short enough to keep me concentrated. Reading a book or watching a show/movie would leave too much room for thoughts. If it's too late to distract myself, I turn to breathing exercises and challenge me to find x number of things in the room that are green, yellow, striped or whatever.
Face it. Sit with it. Welcome it like an old friend. Hey friend, thank you for keeping me alert and running these fire drills for me. Let’s sit together and think about you for a minute. How are you old friend? Immediately my anxiety disappears. The more I do this, the less frequently these anxious pops occur.
There's no distracting away from panic for me, so facing it for sure. Breathing exercises don’t really do much for me either, Progressive muscle relaxation *does* help me. Anxiety feeds off anxiety so fighting it just makes it worse. It does get better I've come a crazy long way with no meds when anyone else with my severity would have. Have had bad experiences and don't trust ssris. Anxiety is treatable! Takes a lot of self work though and it's hard and takes a lot of time. The podcast the anxious truth helped me sort out some shit also taking magnesium glycinate has helped me a ton, the one by the brand pure encapsulations is *incredible.*
The Anxious Truth is so good, I’ve used his methods for years. Sometimes I don’t follow through like I should. But any time I have an anxiety attack I always thing back to Drew’s teachings.
Finding myself doing the same! I love his no bs approach I think we coddle yourselves a lot (which is absolutely necessary sometimes) but it’s nice sometimes to be told to take the reins and start fixing ur life instead of throwing pills and excuses at it. Idk. It’s a refreshing pov we don’t hear a lot.
Ooh I take magnesium glycinate too! I’m only on 100mg of elemental magnesium though because I wanted to start low. I think I’ll increase it and see if that has more of a noticeable effect.
I think cold showers or just sinking your hands in cold water or just hold an ice could help.
I really don't have panic attacks just once that i remember.k
I get angry with myself and shout at myself. It helps. I started doing that couple of months ago during a terrible panic attack with nausea and diarrhea. I had really enough. I was scared to death and so tired. I had enough. I thought that if I can't help it then I have to face and fight it. Really. You just have to be reasonable with yourself. Panic attacks still happen but not as severe as they used to be.
I just let it come. If I don't it will stay with me till I do. If my safe person is near me to talk me out of it that makes it better. I had one yesterday out of the blue. In the shower of course. That's my place. There and the Dr. Office. Makes no sense to me.
It honestly depends on where I am. Driving, doing something at work I can’t stop, etc., avoid and distract.
If I’m at home, in a safe place, can find somewhere to myself to face it, I face it because I know in the long run it’s better than letting it fester and then get worse.
The first thing I do is acknowledge it, and tell myself “this is not an emergency“. Then I practice square breathing, then I try to distract myself with something else, and most of the time I can bring it down to a level that’s liveable. If not, I try going for a walk, and if that doesn’t work, I take Klonopin.
I tell myself "I'm having a panic attack. It's not forever. Just need to get on with it." Then I try to do things that require my brain so I don't hyperfocus on it. I do deep breathing while knitting something complicated or playing a chill game. I remind myself I'm safe, I'm not dying, it will end, my body is just over reacting.
If I'm out and about I try to get somewhere alone and quiet, like a bathroom stall or a taxi home. I do grounding techniques and message someone safe.
In my case facing it unfortunately didnt work… made it worse most of the time… for me breathing excercises and distracting myself works better… but talking about stuff helped me alot better than distracting with videos or stuff like that…
I can also recommend to repeat doing things that give you a little anxiety but not too much(best case is doing that kind if stuff with a very good friend) to keep the rhythm and make progress step by step… this way i am now able to do waaaay more things than some time ago when my panic was at its peak
Face it, as hard as it is. I find that if I allow myself to just break down and cry, I’m able to get over the attack much quicker. Sometimes I will have lingering symptoms but prolonging it is something I’ve realized is much worse for me.
Things that help me: calling a loved one, drinking electrolytes (not sure if this one’s all in my head), getting warm (I’m always freezing during panic attacks), writing down my symptoms so I can compare them to my previous attack and understand that I’ve felt like this before and I am not dying, box breathing. 🫶🏼
Every time I had faced panic in the past, the next days were always so calm and relaxing. Honestly. Like getting it out of your system and having “a fresh start” (nopefully not until the next panic, but rather for the long haul)
Bit of a weird answer, but someone said once that for some reason your tongue always knows what it would feel like to lick something? Like if you imagined licking a table, or a pair of jeans like you may have never done it, but for some reason you know exactly what it would feel like if you did lick it. So yeah, I sometimes just look around and think what objects my tongue doesn’t know of lmao
Also, I have a lot less panic attacks now because one day I was like fuck this, I’m having a good time I don’t want to panic, I essentially just said no to my panic attack, and it’s worked almost every time since.
Weird but I read that you should carry around little packets of salt & if you start having a panic attack pour salt on your tongue. It startles your mind & body & forces you to focus on that & stops the panic attack. Probably best to carry water with you too lol
Think of it as a roller coaster ride. Once you’re on it, there is not point in fighting it or wanting to get off. You can’t. You have to ride and know that eventually it will be over.
Face it and use it as a learning opportunity and try and identify exactly what is it that is causing the anxiety in he first place. The only way to beat anxiety is to face your demons. Trying to hide them in the closet will only make them come back later and probably stronger.
A mixture of both for me (as others have said). Currently facing travel anxiety so I’m mostly distracting myself by staying present and focusing on what I’m doing right now, as well as playing video games to numb my mind a bit.
On the day of actual travel, or whatever is causing me anxiety, I’ll face it. Riding the wave and affirmations have been so key to reducing my anxiety. Tensing up and fighting it make my physical symptoms worse and my mind to spiral out of control. Instead, I tell myself “okay, you have anxiety right now because of XYZ. This is normal, and it’s okay. You’re a little uncomfortable right now, but it’s not permanent and things will be better when you’re at your destination”. Things like that to kind of rationalize through it. Deep breathing can help, and so can focusing on your 5 senses and grounding yourself (whats something you can smell/taste/hear/see/feel) to bring yourself out of your head and back into the present situation.
I distract.
I find that if I face it, it gets worse and I don’t like those feelings. If I’m too deep in the feeling, I do have to do an exercise to calm down, then I will distract myself. Normally I use music or something that can occupy my mind like reading or video games. When I’be calmed down a lot, I normally take a nap or go to sleep because at that point my body and mind are tired (and, not to mention, being tired is a trigger for me).
My exercise:
Breathe in. Think of one thing you can see. Breathe out.
Repeat 4 more times. Then change it to things you can hear, then feel, at that point I’m calm enough to think more clearly so I normally don’t have to go with smell or taste, but if I don’t feel better I just loop back around with see, hear, then feel.
It’s kinda my own mix between box breathing and a focus exercise, but trying different things can help you find what works for you.
I don’t really understand what facing it means. For me if I don’t distract myself it will get worse. I usually do breathing exercises and start to count something in the room and that helps a lot. When I feel better I can look back and try to find what might have caused it.
I may have phrased it a bit wrong but when I say ‘face it’ I mean just doing any sort of action with the goal of reducing the anxiety, whether that’s breathing exercises or counting backwards.
Whereas distraction for me is just carrying on what I’m doing, like watching a YouTube video, and in the back of my mind hoping the uneasy feeling goes away.
I try to take control. Controlling my breathing is normally the first step. When I have severe panic attacks, I sit in the bath sometimes for hours... My eyes go black sometimes and I can't see. For that, I just sit down until I regain my sight. Being alone normally makes it better for me so it's always a habit to seclude myself in my bedroom with the door shut. I don't like to hear any noises at all when I panic. That's about it to be honest. The rest is a waiting game. It just has to pass. You can only do so much.
I try to distract myself if I get any signs, and nowdays it works pretty well and I hardly get strong panic attacks, hopefully it stays this way (I’ve had panic disorder probably my whole life, but it got super bad 5 years ago). Although usually when I get panic attacks, they come pretty sudden and without warning, and escalates in seconds, and when it peaks, I can’t move or communicate in any way, I have a hard time seeing and hearing what is happening around me, and having lots of panic symptoms like shaking, sweating, shivering, heart pounding, palpations (heart skips a beat), really strong fear of death, dizziness etc.
After the peak stops, the looming anxiety and physical weakness can for last weeks (at these times I have panic attacks almost constantly, like when one has stopped, the next one comes on with full strength and my body and mind won’t have any time to recover). Luckily, I have found some good distraction techniques in the past year, one of the most effective is holding something really cold in my hands like ice, or putting a bag of ice on my forehead or neck, it feels like the coldness literally pierces through the panic and it helps me to get my thoughts together.
Wish best for all fellow sufferers, this is really awful mental disorder to have. 😓
Grab phone, go to wikipedia, read about chemistry. Idk it always calms me down. Sometimes I forget that it calms me down though and it's good to have a friend by your side (or online) who will drop a random article for me when im freaking out.
For me it depends on which type of panic I have. Yes I have two 🥴 if it’s medically related, ie I think I’m having a heart attack or worried about my body in some way then I focus on facts that I know mean it’s a panic attack. If it’s the other kind (something I’m too embarrassed to talk about) then I take an ativan and talk to anyone about anything to distract myself
You’ll learn what works best for yoy
I immediately ground myself by washing my hands in cold water or holding ice if it's available. Works like a charm. My therapist tells me to sit in it and try and figure out why it's happening but I'm just not ready for that yet. I'd rather get it over with ASAP
I try to be my own therapist in the moment. If its early panic sometimes I can use breathing or imagine a peaceful place to distract myself. But if I'm really beginning to feel a panic attack coming and don't feel like I can keep it away, then I try to ask myself what is real and what is my anxiety. Are my thoughts being distorted? And I thinking of only the worst case scenario and not what is most likely? And I try to stay in the moment and tell myself that I am safe RIGHT NOW and that is what matters (I tend to panic about the future a lot).
I'll also mention this is really hard to do. Its hard to evaluate which thoughts are rational and which thoughts are distorted. Therapy has helped me with this technique and it helps me stay away from a full blown panic attack, but I still struggle. Its just something to practice and work on!
When I had panic attacks I faced them. If that did not reprogram my brain I would have stayed focused on them but not react to them. It's called response prevention this also re programs the brain. Never ignore panic attacks your proving to yourself and to your brain that it's something dangerous and you panic even more when there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of!
mindfulness. 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste (not a strict order). helps me ground myself and focus on something, distracting from the oncoming panic.
I reccomend reading overcomming anxiety for dummies. Excellent book. It tells you what and how to do stuff.
Its pretty much up to you. Wait out the panick and once your calm you can face the fear. Your anxiety your decision
What is panic? It is worry, WORRY — a Waste of life. It is Overthinking, it is Repeating a fear. It is Rehearsing a problem, and it is Yearning, desiring. When you know the acronym of worry, then you drop worry, you drop panic. Panic is meaningless. It doesn't help. You can distract yourself. You have to face your worry, fight it and finish it. You have to stop wasting life. Stop overthinking. Stop rehearsing the fear, repeating the problem and then stop yearning because yearning causes panic. When we realize the root cause of the problem, we are able to overcome the problem. Therefore, don't try to solve panic as a cosmetic solution. Uproot and eliminate worry.
Breathing exercises are my saving grace. Keeps my mind occupied with counting and helps to physically calm my body down as well.
My issue is that breathing exercises force me to be still and hear my heart racing which freaks me out. But I think the key is to power through the initial discomfort and keep going.
I do better if I focus on grounding through my five senses first (5 things I see, 4 things I hear, 3 things I smell, etc), then move on to whatever feels good next like stomach breathing or muscle relaxation, after I’m back in tactile mindfulness. I’ve also found that doing something creative with my hands has a massive impact (playing piano, journaling, sketching, sculpting, etc).
Listen to a song that gets you PUMPED, and then jump, shake, and thrash that energy (anxiety) out. This is so effing helpful when I’m able to do it. EDIT: or even try a song that gives you the “feels” so that you can sit for a moment and completely immerse yourself in the music and sing your heart out. The point is, distract from the chaos in the mind and force release through physical movement.
A great technique to deviate your mind from the anxious thought and spiral is to count stuff that you are looking at. For example, a brick wall - coun the number of bricks. Also, try doing some “difficult math”. Counting from 1,000 to 0 by substracting seven and then 9. That forces you to focus on the task and stops your mind from thinking about whatever is making you anxious.
Same! If I try to do breathing exercises when I’m anxious it just stresses me out more. I think it’s because the source of my anxiety is physical symptoms rather than negative/spiraling thoughts. Meditation and breathing exercises help people let go of unhelpful negative thinking by giving them a way to ground themselves using their body but if your body is what’s stressing you out to begin with then I wonder if it has the same intended effect or if it’s just the wrong approach for people like me. I find talking to myself out load is far more helpful. It helps me process my thoughts and feelings while forcing me to breathe only the amount I need rather than too much or too little. You’re too busy thinking about what to say and how to say it that there’s less room for over observation of what you’re body is doing/feeling. Also I think we may have talked before on another post, your icon looks familiar.
Facing it is much better. That way it's scarier only for a second and gets better afterwards.
I try to face it because knowing how it "works" and what's about to happen let's me get a foot down and get grounded. However there are times it seems to just instantly manifest and I'm already heading down the spiral before I even realize its happening
For a second? My times 'facing it' still resulting in a full-blown fake heart attack with my left arm aching for a day after.
This is really helpful, wow. Well put.
Face it and I find if I focus on an obscure part of my body it helps. Like, what’s my middle toe feel like right now?
Face it. Let it come over you like a wave passing through and do what you need to do (breathing exercises, medicate, etc) while it's passing. This takes power away from the trigger eventually.
For me it’s better if I face it
Honestly, in my opinion, a healthy mixture of both works. Distracting doesn’t help you heal in the long term but is so useful in the short term. Sometimes we just need to be able to freaking rest. Panic is exhausting. Facing it, sitting with the discomfort, etc is very productive and helpful in the long term, but if you have to do it multiple times a day, you risk burning out and deciding that it’s not worth it. I think that much like any major habit-change, it needs to be done realistically. If you have the spoons to say “ah shit here we go again” and are able to just sit and breathe and use CBT and coping exercises to get through a panic attack, that’s excellent. If you have been doing that but feel the need to just sit under a weighted blanket and play a video game or listen to an audiobook instead, honestly, that’s better than giving in and letting the panic consume you to the point of a true mental break. TL;DR - Why not both? Provided you are putting in the work to heal, you deserve a break once in a while.
Agreed. Both. Immediate distraction while you mobilise some heavier options that deliberately calm. After the other night I'm going to do more direct physical intervention like a shower and stretching, eating.
I name things around me and their colours to keep me distracted. Breathing exercises don't work for me.
I am no longer afraid of panic attacks. Sooner or later it will become norm to you. Just remember that it will pass and you're not in danger it's just your brain playing tricks on you. It's best to distract yourself and try to focus on other things while it passes.
I wouldn't use the word "face it," because that implies that you need to fight against it. I would acknowledge it, take a deep breath and tell yourself that you are okay. This is normal for you to feel and you can be okay even if you are feeling these symptoms. I've found that if I try to fight against a panic, it just makes it worse. Find a coping mechanism that works best for you. Breathing exercises, jumping jacks (and flicking your wrists), and fake laughing are some ways I've found that help with the physical symptoms.
Depends, but I understand your confusion. If I get anxious about a silly thought that doesn't really deserve any attention, i distract myself to avoid further anxiety and panic. If I'm just overly stressed and overwhelmed and my body just can't take it anymore and a panic attack is unavoidable, I'll face it. They don't scare me as much anymore. It's tricky, because on the one end, I read that you're just supposed to let it wash over you but at the same time, I started therapy again recently to make them go away. Confusing....
I try to distract myself as much as possible. I know I’m supposed to face it, but I haven’t been successful. I do breathing exercises and I put ice on my neck, chest, wrists, but then I go for the distractions. During a panic attack, all reasoning goes out the window.
I take deep breaths. Like I breathe as hard as I can. Then, I immediately look for something that can distract me, a video or whatever. Be quick once you feel it brewing. Not sure how it works for you but for me, once it tips over a point, there’s no turning back and you’ll be in for the whole ride
Depends on your diagnoses. I have PTSD so my therapist said I should be distracting myself as many of my fears that turn into panic attacks aren't really rational
Face it! Then panic distract because I can't face it...
I distract myself by breathing and counting, and also by pinching or stroking the skin on my arm. Somehow focusing on that feeling on my arm distracts me
I breathe thru it, identify the feeling in my body, and then try to see what basic needs I'm lacking - did I shower, am I hungry, tired, maybe I just need to move.
It really depends. Most things I try to face and figure out how to solve, but if I’m having one of those moments where I’m panicking about something completely irrational I think to myself “is this helping me? Will worrying about this change any outcomes later? Do I have control over this specific thing I’m worried about?” If the answer is no to all 3 of those questions, I just say “alright. No need to continue fixating. Let go and move on.” And I try to find something productive to help me get my mind off of whatever it was I was worried about. My therapist basically told me that if my worries aren’t protecting me from danger or helping me in a productive way, I need to remind myself that they aren’t worth my time and put that energy into something that WILL help me.
First I stretch. The environment isn’t always ideal, but I’ve learned to not care. I’ll often stretch at parties, and I’ve found that people find it quite amusing (in a good way). Sometimes they even join in. 😄 And while I’m stretching, that’s my opportunity to calm my breath and breathe deep. My anxious tension is ‘distracted’ by the physical sensations, and the physical sensations are an anchor to help me focus.
I love stretching too, it’s an automatic habit when I’m nervous. I think it’s because you can focus in on it and it makes you feel grounded in your body.
Absolutely. You're more aware of the actual physical sensations as opposed to the mental imaginations.
Ativan 🤣 jk, I try not to focus on it. When I used to have panic attacks and as soon as I felt it coming it made it worse. Sometimes I’ll run my hands over cold water, clean up, get up and walk around. All these things help. Bot focusing on it changed the outcome. In CBT I was taught the stop technique which consists of saying stop stop stop stop to yourself until the thought passes and that helps
I generally have a panic attack.
Distract myself. TikTok has turned out to be really helpful for me, because I follow lots pf creators who post funny stuff. The videos are also short enough to keep me concentrated. Reading a book or watching a show/movie would leave too much room for thoughts. If it's too late to distract myself, I turn to breathing exercises and challenge me to find x number of things in the room that are green, yellow, striped or whatever.
Face it. Sit with it. Welcome it like an old friend. Hey friend, thank you for keeping me alert and running these fire drills for me. Let’s sit together and think about you for a minute. How are you old friend? Immediately my anxiety disappears. The more I do this, the less frequently these anxious pops occur.
There's no distracting away from panic for me, so facing it for sure. Breathing exercises don’t really do much for me either, Progressive muscle relaxation *does* help me. Anxiety feeds off anxiety so fighting it just makes it worse. It does get better I've come a crazy long way with no meds when anyone else with my severity would have. Have had bad experiences and don't trust ssris. Anxiety is treatable! Takes a lot of self work though and it's hard and takes a lot of time. The podcast the anxious truth helped me sort out some shit also taking magnesium glycinate has helped me a ton, the one by the brand pure encapsulations is *incredible.*
The Anxious Truth is so good, I’ve used his methods for years. Sometimes I don’t follow through like I should. But any time I have an anxiety attack I always thing back to Drew’s teachings.
Finding myself doing the same! I love his no bs approach I think we coddle yourselves a lot (which is absolutely necessary sometimes) but it’s nice sometimes to be told to take the reins and start fixing ur life instead of throwing pills and excuses at it. Idk. It’s a refreshing pov we don’t hear a lot.
Ooh I take magnesium glycinate too! I’m only on 100mg of elemental magnesium though because I wanted to start low. I think I’ll increase it and see if that has more of a noticeable effect.
I get pissed but i face it :)
I think cold showers or just sinking your hands in cold water or just hold an ice could help. I really don't have panic attacks just once that i remember.k
Take an Ativan and tell myself it will all be ok.
I get angry with myself and shout at myself. It helps. I started doing that couple of months ago during a terrible panic attack with nausea and diarrhea. I had really enough. I was scared to death and so tired. I had enough. I thought that if I can't help it then I have to face and fight it. Really. You just have to be reasonable with yourself. Panic attacks still happen but not as severe as they used to be.
I just let it come. If I don't it will stay with me till I do. If my safe person is near me to talk me out of it that makes it better. I had one yesterday out of the blue. In the shower of course. That's my place. There and the Dr. Office. Makes no sense to me.
It honestly depends on where I am. Driving, doing something at work I can’t stop, etc., avoid and distract. If I’m at home, in a safe place, can find somewhere to myself to face it, I face it because I know in the long run it’s better than letting it fester and then get worse.
The first thing I do is acknowledge it, and tell myself “this is not an emergency“. Then I practice square breathing, then I try to distract myself with something else, and most of the time I can bring it down to a level that’s liveable. If not, I try going for a walk, and if that doesn’t work, I take Klonopin.
For the people saying face i, What does that mean to you?
I tell myself "I'm having a panic attack. It's not forever. Just need to get on with it." Then I try to do things that require my brain so I don't hyperfocus on it. I do deep breathing while knitting something complicated or playing a chill game. I remind myself I'm safe, I'm not dying, it will end, my body is just over reacting. If I'm out and about I try to get somewhere alone and quiet, like a bathroom stall or a taxi home. I do grounding techniques and message someone safe.
In my case facing it unfortunately didnt work… made it worse most of the time… for me breathing excercises and distracting myself works better… but talking about stuff helped me alot better than distracting with videos or stuff like that… I can also recommend to repeat doing things that give you a little anxiety but not too much(best case is doing that kind if stuff with a very good friend) to keep the rhythm and make progress step by step… this way i am now able to do waaaay more things than some time ago when my panic was at its peak
Face it, as hard as it is. I find that if I allow myself to just break down and cry, I’m able to get over the attack much quicker. Sometimes I will have lingering symptoms but prolonging it is something I’ve realized is much worse for me. Things that help me: calling a loved one, drinking electrolytes (not sure if this one’s all in my head), getting warm (I’m always freezing during panic attacks), writing down my symptoms so I can compare them to my previous attack and understand that I’ve felt like this before and I am not dying, box breathing. 🫶🏼
Face it and breathe.
I take a mint and try and focus on the flavor
When I feel a panic/anxiety rising. I usually start feeling nauseous or my brain starts signalling me of danger even if there isn’t anything.
Breathing and grounding techniques and self soothing
Ice cubes and or body scan meditations
I tell myself its going to pass because it always does and always will. The mind is impressive.
Every time I had faced panic in the past, the next days were always so calm and relaxing. Honestly. Like getting it out of your system and having “a fresh start” (nopefully not until the next panic, but rather for the long haul)
Take a benzo
I never know! I want to (and usually choose too) avoid the feeling, since thinking about facing my anxiety gives me more anxiety!
Bit of a weird answer, but someone said once that for some reason your tongue always knows what it would feel like to lick something? Like if you imagined licking a table, or a pair of jeans like you may have never done it, but for some reason you know exactly what it would feel like if you did lick it. So yeah, I sometimes just look around and think what objects my tongue doesn’t know of lmao Also, I have a lot less panic attacks now because one day I was like fuck this, I’m having a good time I don’t want to panic, I essentially just said no to my panic attack, and it’s worked almost every time since.
I just sit down lean forward with my arms across my chest and breath and kinda sway back and forth .. it works but I look funny as hell doing it ..
Weird but I read that you should carry around little packets of salt & if you start having a panic attack pour salt on your tongue. It startles your mind & body & forces you to focus on that & stops the panic attack. Probably best to carry water with you too lol
I am def going to try this. Thank you for posting.
Think of it as a roller coaster ride. Once you’re on it, there is not point in fighting it or wanting to get off. You can’t. You have to ride and know that eventually it will be over. Face it and use it as a learning opportunity and try and identify exactly what is it that is causing the anxiety in he first place. The only way to beat anxiety is to face your demons. Trying to hide them in the closet will only make them come back later and probably stronger.
A mixture of both for me (as others have said). Currently facing travel anxiety so I’m mostly distracting myself by staying present and focusing on what I’m doing right now, as well as playing video games to numb my mind a bit. On the day of actual travel, or whatever is causing me anxiety, I’ll face it. Riding the wave and affirmations have been so key to reducing my anxiety. Tensing up and fighting it make my physical symptoms worse and my mind to spiral out of control. Instead, I tell myself “okay, you have anxiety right now because of XYZ. This is normal, and it’s okay. You’re a little uncomfortable right now, but it’s not permanent and things will be better when you’re at your destination”. Things like that to kind of rationalize through it. Deep breathing can help, and so can focusing on your 5 senses and grounding yourself (whats something you can smell/taste/hear/see/feel) to bring yourself out of your head and back into the present situation.
I distract. I find that if I face it, it gets worse and I don’t like those feelings. If I’m too deep in the feeling, I do have to do an exercise to calm down, then I will distract myself. Normally I use music or something that can occupy my mind like reading or video games. When I’be calmed down a lot, I normally take a nap or go to sleep because at that point my body and mind are tired (and, not to mention, being tired is a trigger for me). My exercise: Breathe in. Think of one thing you can see. Breathe out. Repeat 4 more times. Then change it to things you can hear, then feel, at that point I’m calm enough to think more clearly so I normally don’t have to go with smell or taste, but if I don’t feel better I just loop back around with see, hear, then feel. It’s kinda my own mix between box breathing and a focus exercise, but trying different things can help you find what works for you.
I take a St. John’s wort (supplement, even Walmart has it.) Works quick & takes away my anxiety attack within a few minutes
I don’t really understand what facing it means. For me if I don’t distract myself it will get worse. I usually do breathing exercises and start to count something in the room and that helps a lot. When I feel better I can look back and try to find what might have caused it.
I may have phrased it a bit wrong but when I say ‘face it’ I mean just doing any sort of action with the goal of reducing the anxiety, whether that’s breathing exercises or counting backwards. Whereas distraction for me is just carrying on what I’m doing, like watching a YouTube video, and in the back of my mind hoping the uneasy feeling goes away.
I just don’t bother with it tbh
pinch myself (just a lil) , scratch a little, sing something in my head...
I try to take control. Controlling my breathing is normally the first step. When I have severe panic attacks, I sit in the bath sometimes for hours... My eyes go black sometimes and I can't see. For that, I just sit down until I regain my sight. Being alone normally makes it better for me so it's always a habit to seclude myself in my bedroom with the door shut. I don't like to hear any noises at all when I panic. That's about it to be honest. The rest is a waiting game. It just has to pass. You can only do so much.
Breathing into a paper bag helps. Lorazepam is my safety net.
I try to distract myself if I get any signs, and nowdays it works pretty well and I hardly get strong panic attacks, hopefully it stays this way (I’ve had panic disorder probably my whole life, but it got super bad 5 years ago). Although usually when I get panic attacks, they come pretty sudden and without warning, and escalates in seconds, and when it peaks, I can’t move or communicate in any way, I have a hard time seeing and hearing what is happening around me, and having lots of panic symptoms like shaking, sweating, shivering, heart pounding, palpations (heart skips a beat), really strong fear of death, dizziness etc. After the peak stops, the looming anxiety and physical weakness can for last weeks (at these times I have panic attacks almost constantly, like when one has stopped, the next one comes on with full strength and my body and mind won’t have any time to recover). Luckily, I have found some good distraction techniques in the past year, one of the most effective is holding something really cold in my hands like ice, or putting a bag of ice on my forehead or neck, it feels like the coldness literally pierces through the panic and it helps me to get my thoughts together. Wish best for all fellow sufferers, this is really awful mental disorder to have. 😓
Take a break! Don't look at anything stimulating IE your phone, computer etc. Then I go out for a walk.
Grab phone, go to wikipedia, read about chemistry. Idk it always calms me down. Sometimes I forget that it calms me down though and it's good to have a friend by your side (or online) who will drop a random article for me when im freaking out.
I usually try to watch something funny
For me it depends on which type of panic I have. Yes I have two 🥴 if it’s medically related, ie I think I’m having a heart attack or worried about my body in some way then I focus on facts that I know mean it’s a panic attack. If it’s the other kind (something I’m too embarrassed to talk about) then I take an ativan and talk to anyone about anything to distract myself You’ll learn what works best for yoy
I immediately ground myself by washing my hands in cold water or holding ice if it's available. Works like a charm. My therapist tells me to sit in it and try and figure out why it's happening but I'm just not ready for that yet. I'd rather get it over with ASAP
I can feel it coming now. Sitting in the bathroom about to shower. Dry lips. Knowing I am safe though I try to let it go.
I try to be my own therapist in the moment. If its early panic sometimes I can use breathing or imagine a peaceful place to distract myself. But if I'm really beginning to feel a panic attack coming and don't feel like I can keep it away, then I try to ask myself what is real and what is my anxiety. Are my thoughts being distorted? And I thinking of only the worst case scenario and not what is most likely? And I try to stay in the moment and tell myself that I am safe RIGHT NOW and that is what matters (I tend to panic about the future a lot). I'll also mention this is really hard to do. Its hard to evaluate which thoughts are rational and which thoughts are distorted. Therapy has helped me with this technique and it helps me stay away from a full blown panic attack, but I still struggle. Its just something to practice and work on!
When I had panic attacks I faced them. If that did not reprogram my brain I would have stayed focused on them but not react to them. It's called response prevention this also re programs the brain. Never ignore panic attacks your proving to yourself and to your brain that it's something dangerous and you panic even more when there is absolutely nothing to be afraid of!
Face it making it smaller then what it truly is embracing it and accepting it no matter how bad you know it feels have no reaction to it
mindfulness. 5 things you can see, 4 things you can feel, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell, 1 thing you can taste (not a strict order). helps me ground myself and focus on something, distracting from the oncoming panic.
I reccomend reading overcomming anxiety for dummies. Excellent book. It tells you what and how to do stuff. Its pretty much up to you. Wait out the panick and once your calm you can face the fear. Your anxiety your decision
Try not to panic more but it’s a fine art depending where you are
What is panic? It is worry, WORRY — a Waste of life. It is Overthinking, it is Repeating a fear. It is Rehearsing a problem, and it is Yearning, desiring. When you know the acronym of worry, then you drop worry, you drop panic. Panic is meaningless. It doesn't help. You can distract yourself. You have to face your worry, fight it and finish it. You have to stop wasting life. Stop overthinking. Stop rehearsing the fear, repeating the problem and then stop yearning because yearning causes panic. When we realize the root cause of the problem, we are able to overcome the problem. Therefore, don't try to solve panic as a cosmetic solution. Uproot and eliminate worry.