What Are The Dangers Of An Anxiety Attack
During an anxiety attack, ones thoughts are in chaos. The person goes through a terrifying experience.
They experience heart palpitations, which can sometimes feel similar to having a heart attack. One can also experience shortness of breath, lightheadedness, numbness, the feeling of being detached from reality, and a feeling that the world is spinning out of control.
You may experience one, several, or all of these symptoms. Everyone can have unique experiences during anxiety attacks.
Those who constantly experience this condition quickly realize that it could negatively impact their quality of life. If you don’t learn how to control your anxiety attacks, you’re likely to develop ongoing fears of experiencing more attacks, and possibly develop phobias.
In fact, it can lead you to become so afraid that you give up ordinary parts of your life that were once enjoyable. When left untreated, anxiety can even be fatal.
Use Your Smartphone For Distraction
My Words With Friends addiction is a tad out of control, but it sure comes in handy when Im feeling eclipsed by panic.
Games like crossword puzzles and word searches , says Dr. Masand. The idea is it can act as a distraction to the fear or the body symptoms of anxiety. Our smartphones offer a plethora of great coping tools and this is something the majority of us already carry with us. Download some games that will distract you and get your mind off of the unpleasant symptoms you are feeling. You can also download relaxing music and guided relaxation sessions.
Anxiety Attacks No More
When you have been feeling anxiety for quite some time it can be hard to remember what it felt like to feel normal again. Anxiety can truly hurt your life, but it doesnt mean it always has to. Read through this article if you suffer from anxiety and you want to eliminate it once and for all to reclaim your life.
When youre feeling down, cheer yourself up with your favorite comedy movies or TV shows. One of the best ways to get you out of a slump is with some laughter. So have a night full of comedy relief, youll see that laughing can really make you feel a lot better about yourself.
When you are suffering from an anxiety attack, you may be tempted to self-medicate yourself with prescription drugs or alcohol. This is the last thing you should do. It may seem to work well for a while, but it can cause long-term problems with drug addiction and alcoholism.
Meditate in the morning. Every morning, take fifteen minutes for yourself. Find a comfortable chair and close your eyes. Try to concentrate on a relaxing image, such as a peaceful scene, or the face of a loved one. If intrusive thoughts start to enter your head, repeat a mantra over and over, such as I am relaxed.
Anxiety is damaging to your health and your regular health routine should always include ways to reduce your daily dose of anxious feelings. Set aside a few minutes each day that can be used to take care of your own well-being. The focus of this time should be doing something that gives you joy.
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How To Prevent Panic Attacks
Unfortunately, many times you just have to wait for a panic episode it to run its course, so prevention is just as important as any in-the-moment coping strategy.
Your physical health affects stress tolerance, so maintain a healthy diet, good sleep habits, and adequate exercise. Avoid caffeine or alcohol if they make your symptoms worse. In addition, since panic attacks mimic symptoms of other health problems, get a checkup to rule out other causes of your physical symptoms.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy, relaxation, and mindfulness work can also help. Cognitive interventions teach you how to control your thinking during panic attacks. Behavioral strategies often include gradually exposing you to your fears safely. Mindfulness activities and structured relaxation exercises can reduce both mental and physical symptoms.
In some situations, your therapist may recommend a medication evaluation. If your anxiety is severe, medication can reduce the generally anxious feelings so you can do the work of therapy more effectively. Eventually, though, therapy alone may be enough.
Think About Something Funny
Visualize your favorite humorous moments, says Sultanoff. One where you laughed so hard you fell down and peed your pants. These can be real situations, or they can be situations you saw on sitcoms, in stories, jokes, or cartoons.
If its difficult for you to come up with something in the moment, try picking a couple of memories ahead of time, so you can go to them as soon as you start experiencing anxiety.
Like most mindfulness training, humor visualization takes you out of worrying about things that might happen in the future and focuses you back in your present circumstances, in the now.
It does a few other things too. You experience mirth, which is the uplifting reaction to humor, explains Sultanoff. You feel emotions such as joy, pleasure, or delight all powerful emotions that can help you reduce anxiety quickly.
And if youre able to make yourself laugh by remembering that funny moment, he says, humor visualization is even more effective.
When you laugh, you contract and expand muscles, which reduces physical anxiety, stress, and tension, he says.
Laughter also combats the production of cortisol levels in the body, he adds.
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How To Stop Panic Attacks At Night
Getting a good nights sleep is essential for our health and wellbeing. Sleep promotes rest and relaxation, and gives us a chance to recuperate and let go of the stresses of the day. However, this isnt the case for the many individuals who struggle with panic attacks at night.
Here, we provide advice on how to cope with panic attacks at night, and give tips on how to reduce them.
Acknowledge The Panic Attack
People spend most of their time in the two wrong places: the past or the future. In the past, you drown yourself in depression. In the future, youre scared for your life. But in the present, thats where you can find the most joy. While having a panic attack can be wildly unpleasant, its important to sit with yourself in the present moment and acknowledge it.
Tell yourself, Right now, Im having a panic attack. I feel scared, anxious, and worried that something will go wrong. However, right now nothing bad is happening right now. I am safe. I feel myself taking a deep breath in. I feel the oxygen entering my lungs. I feel my toes grounded on the floor. Im shaking my arms back and forth. This moment isnt perfect but it will pass. Good moments are up ahead. All I need to do is feel this present moment.
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Listen To Good Mood Music
Music can have a powerful effect on your mood and on anxiety. They key however is to not just choose songs you like. but also make sure that you are listening to music that represents the way you want to feel. Happy or relaxing music can directly impact your mood and the way you feel.
While many people find it soothing to listen to angry music when theyâre angry or sad music when theyâre sad, the truth is that this type of music will only help you get in touch with those negative emotions. That won’t help you feel better. When you’re trying to stop anxiety, you should listen to music that will help you feel the way you want to feel.
Stress Hormones Are Limited In What They Can Do
Even though anxiety attacks can feel powerful, stress responses and the hormones they produce are limited in what they can do. While they can prepare the body for emergency action, stress responses cant cause you to snap and lose your mind, cant cause a mental breakdown, cant cause you to do something you dont want to do, dont last forever, and will end.
Again, for more information on the stress response and its many actions, see our anxiety attack symptoms section or our Stress Response section.
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Listen To The Calmer You Podcast
An anxiety attack is the worst. The lights seem too bright your heart feels like it might explode out of your chest. Your body shakes. You may find yourself unable to breathe your chest hurts. You have an intense desire to escape, scream or cry. Your hands might twitch and you feel like you are going to be sick in just a few seconds.
Thats what an anxiety attack feels like. Sounds familiar? Well that used to be my story too.
On a normal day, I would just be hanging out with my friends and suddenly have a wave of panic wash over me. I couldnt breathe and felt like I was dying.
Anxiety attacks can strike unexpectedly.
In fact, it feels like the worst thing in the world, but the truth is its all caused by a massive boost of adrenaline that your brain sends into your bloodstream.
In todays post, Id like to break down the most common anxiety attack symptoms, plus share some personal tips on how to tame this beast.
Manage Stress By Changing Your Habits
Keeping your bodys stress in check will prevent you from experiencing involuntary anxiety attacks. You will also be able to increase the amount of control you have over your bodys reactions to perceived threats when stress is minimized.
For example, when you experience something that at first seems very threatening, if your overall stress level is low, you will have the capacity to recognize if the stimulus is actually a threat or if it is just your anxiety acting up.
If your stress level is constantly elevated, your body is more likely to act involuntarily, which can decrease your control over your mental and physical capacities. This means that you may not be able to recognize that a stimulus actually poses no threat to your safety, and therefore experience unnecessary anxiety in its presence. You can greatly decrease your stress .
To stay on track on developing good habits, you can create SMART goals that will help you alleviate your anxiety.
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Get Personalized Support To Stop Anxiety Attacks
If youre in Asheville and want support with stopping anxiety attacks, I can help. Schedule a free consultation today to discover how working with me can help you finally start enjoying a panic free life.
Hey! I’m Samantha, an anxiety counselor living and working in Asheville, North Carolina. I teach ambitious people how to let go of anxiety so that they can love their lives again. Sound like you? Id love to connect. Schedule a free consultation call today to get started.
There Are No Cures For Anxiety Attacks
This may sound harsh, but hear me out:
There are no cures for anxiety attacks.
Its true. Anxiety attacks can only be prevented, but not cured. Even if you choose to use medication to relieve an anxiety attack, you are teaching yourself to rely on that, rather than deal with the problem itself, and therefore, have fewer in the long run. Therefore, its way better to know how to manage anxiety attacks, if and when they do happen.
Another important thing: Dont fight it. Take it from my experience: the more you struggle against it, the worse its going to get. Example: if you feel your whole body shaking, and try to stop it rather than let it flow, the shaking is only going to get worse. Ive been there and done that all while I was trapped on a plane. Long story short: do not fight the anxiety attack.
Luckily, knowing how to control an anxiety attack naturally will help you the next time. And thats where I step in.
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Remember That It Will Pass
During a panic attack, it can help to remember that these feelings will pass and cause no physical harm, however scary it feels at the time.
Try acknowledging that this is a brief period of concentrated anxiety, and that it will be over soon.
Panic attacks tend to reach their most intense point within 10 minutes of their onset, and then the symptoms will begin to subside.
Find A Therapist To Help You Cope
If anxiety impedes your ability to live a healthy, productive life, its essential to seek professional help to curtail the progressive nature of anxiety and panic disorders. There, you can help determine the root causes and take effective steps toward management. Psychotherapy which address mental disorders via psychological instead of medical means is a common treatment, notes Strauss.
There are often limiting negative beliefs that contribute to the genesis of anxiety, and psychotherapy can help the client track and challenge the automatic thoughts that accompany the emotions of anxiety and fear, she explains. Its important that one tries to learn the skills to cope with anxiety in addition to consider the use of medication. Treatment modalities like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy , Dialectical Behavioral Therapy , Internal Family Systems, EMDR, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Interpersonal Therapy can all be used to help the client become increasingly more aware of what triggers anxiety.
Over time, you will be better equipped to identify these negative thought patterns as they arise, and be able to nip them in the bud, instead of having them spiral out of control.
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