How can I stop Panic Attacks and Anxiety feelings?

When you are suffering from anxiety attacks they can seem so scary that it is tempting to rum away from anything that seems to cause them. Once you understand a little more about them, then you can learn to let go and end them

Firstly learn to understand the symptoms and why they are happening.

The way that your body reacts to a perceived fear is a natural and harmless ‘flight or fight’ response. It’s probably something you have already heard about. We often learn a little about it in school biology lessons without realising quite what it can mean to us. We evolved to release the hormone adrenalin when there is a perception of danger. It can happen in an instant, but not always when it is the right time. That danger, whether real or imagined will produce the same symptoms which we understand as ‘feeling anxious’ You may have felt yourself having a racing heartbeat, a churning stomach, nausea or sickness feeling, dry mouth, shakiness, or other symptoms.

Start to be more aware of your thoughts

When you become more mindfully aware of your thoughts and how they are more fleeting than it may at first seem, you can begin to notice how the physical symptoms of anxiety arise from that pattern of thinking and then the fear of that anxious feeling, and worry you will have a panic attack rather than the situation itself.

You don’t need to run away

Our natural instinct to counteract anxiety is to flee or try to fight it. That’s where the flight or fight phrase comes from of course. When the fear is unreal and only in our own minds there is nowhere to run. If you do run then you tell it that it was doing the right thing and that adrenaline release was correct.

Hard as it may at first seem the best action is to stop fighting the feelings. Some people explain it as if it is a tug of war. If you just tug against it and fight then it will go on for longer and feel worse for you.

Understand that the feelings will subside

N one enjoys feeling anxious, so the fastest way of taking back control is to learn to accept these feelings as temporary and just allow them to be, until they subside. If you fight then they fight back, but accepting them, and knowing that they will go away, then they can start to leave you sooner and you begin to teach yourself that they are of no benefit. It’s almost like they a young child having a tantrum. It may feel awkward and you don’t have to like them or want them, just let them be, and they will calm.

You can download a free how to stop a panic attack MP3 from the shop and there is plenty more information that can help you here: How to Stop and Anxiety Attack