How to Avoid and Fight Off Panic Attacks
Learn Panic Attack Symptoms and Way to Treat Them Without Medication
Sep 20, 2009
Millions of people suffer from panic attacks brought on by anxiety and depression. Many choose to treat their symptoms with medications, but for some, treating it naturally with lifestyle changes and healthy practices is more ideal. Panic attacks can be controlled without medication.
What are the Symptoms of a Panic Attack?
For most panic attack sufferers, the symptoms are shortness of breath, racing heartbeat, dizziness, nausea, and intense feelings of fear. The person feels an overpowering sensation that he or she is having a heart attack, having a stroke, or dying. The physical symptoms are real, even though the person is not actually experiencing a heart attack. He or she truly feels chest pain and has trouble breathing. That's the nature of the attack. In a sense, the attack tricks the body into believing a medical emergency is happening. In that state of panic, the mind cannot distinguish between an actual emergency and a panic attack.
Preventing a Panic Attack
Different people have different triggers for panic attacks, but a few are common for everyone. Caffeine almost always makes anxiety and panic more likely, so cutting back on coffee and caffeinated sodas will decrease the chances of having a panic attack. Cutting out caffeine completely is the healthiest and smartest choice for those with anxiety disorder.
Chocolate and other sugary foods also can be triggers for panic, so limiting sugar intake, especially at night, will help prevent attacks.
Despite alcohol's reputation as a relaxation method, it speeds up the heartrate, which makes panicking more likely. Cutting back alcohol intake, especially late at night, is the healthy lifestyle choice for panic sufferers.
Trying snacking on fruit instead of sweets, and drink chamomile tea at night before bed. Chamomile's calming effect will help the mind and body wind down at night, allowing for a better night's rest and a more relaxed frame of mind the next day.
Also try warm baths at night with bath oils and soaps infused with lavender or chamomile.
Fighting Off a Panic Attack
When panic attacks do occur, it is difficult to think logically. But the most powerful weapon sufferers have is their mind. Overpowering the panic attack is possible. The steps to ending a panic attack are as follows:
- Reinforcing the fact that the symptoms are only from panic, not from a real medical emergency.
- Recognizing that with logical thought, the attack can end.
- Calming the mind with the true facts, overpowering the blinding effects of the panic attack.
- Drinking water and taking deep, slow breaths to help slow the heartrate.
- Doing something normal and comforting, like having a conversation with someone or watching television.
The most important thing, in the moment of panic, is to remember what is causing the symptoms. Knowing this will help reassure and calm the mind. Once logical thinking is back in place, the attack can end.
It is normal to feel worried about another attack in the hours after one, but it is important to rest afterward. Worrying only leads to more anxiety. If the attack happens at night, once it's over, drink some cool water, wash the face with cool water, and go back to bed, thinking calming thoughts. Staying calm is the best way to ward off further problems.
It is important to add that if a person has never before experienced a panic attack, symptoms like chest pain and trouble breathing should not be written off as a panic attack. That being said, some people do not experience their first attack until later in life. Medical attention should be sought, but once any medical problem has been ruled out, these steps to prevent and fight off panic attacks can be used.
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