Panic Attack

The most effective thing I have learned and taught is to focus your mind on your breathing while making an attempt to change your breathing pattern. Panic comes from the triggering of the body's Fight or Flight response, a natural, protective action your body takes automatically when there is a perceived threat. With high stress levels, a lack of self-care and/or pain or chronic health conditions, the Fight or Flight response can be triggered by events and things that are not immenent threats. My favorite breathing technique is listed on "Breathing the Master Key to Self Healing" a CD by Dr. Andrew Weil. The specific technique is called the Relaxing Breath and it goes like this: 1) hold the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth about 1/4 inch (keep it there throughout this process), 2) breathe in through your nose for the count of four, 3) hold it in your belly for the count of seven and 4) blow out through pursed lips for the count of eight until your lungs can't push out any more air. Repeat these steps four to eight times depending on your lung capacity. Use your diaphram (stomach) muscle to sustain your breath and don't let it all spill out at once. Breathing out slowly will slow your heart rate down and controlling your breath will increase the amount of oxygen in your blood stream. You may feel dizzy or light headed at first. That may be an indicator to speed up or slow down your counting. How fast isn't important. What is important is the ratio of 4-7-8. If your breathing is impaired, just try focusing on making your breathing slower, longer, deeper and more regular. Put the picture in your mind's eye of a slow wave crawling up the beach and retreating. Try to match your breathing pattern to that wave's motion. Doing these techniques can help you to reverse the Fight or Flight response and allow you to think a little clearer and more rationally. Practice it at least a couple times a day and notice how you feel afterwards. Use it before something that causes you anxiety. Keep a small mood log or chart to track your progress. Rate your anxiety or panic on the pain scale of 0 to 10. You might not feel a great difference at first, but with practice you can decrease the intensity of your panic, shorten it's duration and even prevent an attack altogether. Once you come to see you have something under your control that helps with your distress, the pressure you feel to prevent another attack will subside. It helped me deal with my own anxiety for about 15 years now. And it's drug free! The most effective thing I have learned and taught is to focus your mind on your breathing while making an attempt to change your breathing pattern. Panic comes from the triggering of the body's Fight or Flight response, a natural, protective action your body takes automatically when there is a perceived threat. With high stress levels, a lack of self-care and/or pain or chronic health conditions, the Fight or Flight response can be triggered by events and things that are not immenent threats. My favorite breathing technique is listed on "Breathing the Master Key to Self Healing" a CD by Dr. Andrew Weil. The specific technique is called the Relaxing Breath and it goes like this: 1) hold the tip of your tongue to the roof of your mouth just behind your front teeth about 1/4 inch (keep it there throughout this process), 2) breathe in through your nose for the count of four, 3) hold it in your belly for the count of seven and 4) blow out through pursed lips for the count of eight until your lungs can't push out any more air. Repeat these steps four to eight times depending on your lung capacity. Use your diaphram (stomach) muscle to sustain your breath and don't let it all spill out at once. Breathing out slowly will slow your heart rate down and controlling your breath will increase the amount of oxygen in your blood stream. You may feel dizzy or light headed at first. That may be an indicator to speed up or slow down your counting. How fast isn't important. What is important is the ratio of 4-7-8. If your breathing is impaired, just try focusing on making your breathing slower, longer, deeper and more regular. Put the picture in your mind's eye of a slow wave crawling up the beach and retreating. Try to match your breathing pattern to that wave's motion. Doing these techniques can help you to reverse the Fight or Flight response and allow you to think a little clearer and more rationally. Practice it at least a couple times a day and notice how you feel afterwards. Use it before something that causes you anxiety. Keep a small mood log or chart to track your progress. Rate your anxiety or panic on the pain scale of 0 to 10. You might not feel a great difference at first, but with practice you can decrease the intensity of your panic, shorten it's duration and even prevent an attack altogether. Once you come to see you have something under your control that helps with your distress, the pressure you feel to prevent another attack will subside. It helped me deal with my own anxiety for about 15 years now. And it's drug free!