What are some ways to help me stop having a panic attack?
Posted Jul 03 2010 2:20am
well, from the sounds of your question, you have had more than one and now are scared of having them again. This is called Panic Disorder, and I was recently diagnosed with it myself. From my experience so far, there are a few things that have helped me to overcome them:
1. taking a very low dose (half of a pill) of Lexapro
2. doing cognitive behavioral therapy with my psychologist to try to find the root cause of my attacks and how to talk back to them
3. as someone else said, when you feel them come on, just let them come. The harder you try to fight them, the worse they’ll be. It’s called the acceptance paradox. Whenever I do get attacks now, the intensity is extremely lowered.
4. when I feel them coming on, I also do a deep, slow, relaxed breathing (breathe in as long as possible, hold as long as possible, breahe out as long as possible, hold as long as possible, breathe in as long as possible, etc.). This usually slows down my heart beat even after only a minute of doing this…it really helps!!!
5. find out what you’re getting scared about, write down the thoughts you’re having when you’re getting scared, and then analyze them and see how irrational they are. Here’s a good link for talking back to common thoughts during panic attacks
http://www.anxietynetwork.com/pdfear.html
if you need any more help, feel free to message me!
well, from the sounds of your question, you have had more than one and now are scared of having them again. This is called Panic Disorder, and I was recently diagnosed with it myself. From my experience so far, there are a few things that have helped me to overcome them:
1. taking a very low dose (half of a pill) of Lexapro
2. doing cognitive behavioral therapy with my psychologist to try to find the root cause of my attacks and how to talk back to them
3. as someone else said, when you feel them come on, just let them come. The harder you try to fight them, the worse they’ll be. It’s called the acceptance paradox. Whenever I do get attacks now, the intensity is extremely lowered.
4. when I feel them coming on, I also do a deep, slow, relaxed breathing (breathe in as long as possible, hold as long as possible, breahe out as long as possible, hold as long as possible, breathe in as long as possible, etc.). This usually slows down my heart beat even after only a minute of doing this…it really helps!!!
5. find out what you’re getting scared about, write down the thoughts you’re having when you’re getting scared, and then analyze them and see how irrational they are. Here’s a good link for talking back to common thoughts during panic attacks
http://www.anxietynetwork.com/pdfear.html
if you need any more help, feel free to message me!