What To Do If You Are Having An Anxiety Attack
Have you ever had an anxiety attack without really knowing how to handle it? How to act if you have an anxiety attack? Anxiety attacks, also called panic attacks, are episodes of fear, anxiety or intense discomfort that cause a series of physical and psychological symptoms, such as palpitations, difficulty breathing, fear of losing control. control, to go mad or even to die.
In this article, we offer you some ideas on how to act during one of these crises. It will be important not to lose calm, to find a safe place and, most importantly, to focus on the breath (or an outside object, to decentralize our attention to the symptoms).
Anxiety crisis: definition and prevalence
An anxiety attack is defined in DSM-5 (APA, 2013) as the sudden onset of intense fear / discomfort which reaches its maximum expression within a few minutes. During this time, 4 (or more) symptoms appear, such as: palpitations, sweating, tremors, feeling of suffocation, chest pain or discomfort, etc.
According to Antonio Cano Vindel, professor of psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid and president of the Spanish Society for the Study of Anxiety and Stress, anxiety attacks are ” alarming extreme emotional reactions that produce the fear “.
This type of seizure is linked to times of stress or traumatic events, although not all are triggered by an identifiable cause. In other words, they can occur in times of stress, but also of calm.
What should you do if you have an anxiety attack?
Keep in mind that an anxiety attack will go away sooner or later, but there are small steps you can take to reduce the fear and anguish you feel and go away sooner. Yes, we are talking about reducing suffering.
Keep in mind that the initial goal will be to make you stop thinking about the symptoms. So try to breathe slowly and focus your attention on things other than your symptoms and thoughts.
1. Breathe calmly
At this stage that we suggest to you, you do not have to breathe very deeply ; simply take control of a process that is normally automatic and set it in a way that is contrary to how it would automatically be in the face of a real threat.
You can try the following things: breathe in for two or three seconds, hold the inhale for two or three more, and gradually breathe out until everything is released. You can repeat this little exercise and you will see how having control of your breathing gradually reduces anxiety symptoms.
2. Find a safe and quiet place
Another of the key ideas for how to act if you are having an anxiety attack is to find a safe, quiet place where you cannot hurt yourself.
Sit down if you feel it is necessary; try to gain a sense of calm. And if you think you can feel safer calling someone, then do so.
3. Try to stay calm
It is clear that staying calm during an anxiety attack is no easy task. However, you don’t have to be extremely calm.
Just keep breathing easily and don’t harbor negative thoughts. Just focus on the breath.
4. Focus on non-internal elements
To stop focusing your attention on the symptoms of the anxiety attack, it may be good to focus on something outside. It can be something of the landscape : people walking, a tree, a bench, the window …
Just look at this object and keep breathing. You can also just focus on your breathing.
5. Do not amplify the symptoms
Although anxiety attacks are often experienced as something that can harm us, and in the face of them we develop catastrophic thoughts or even death, the truth is, you cannot die from an anxiety attack..
So try not to amplify the symptoms; think these are the same symptoms you would experience, for example, during an exam or speaking in public.
So, although you may experience them as more intense, the truth is that they are symptoms that are not dangerous in themselves, and most importantly, remember that the attack will go away sooner or later.
6. Normalize the situation
According to experts, when the anxiety attack begins, many people fear that the symptoms will be observable by others. Therefore, try to normalize the situation. Whether they are watching you or not, try to assess this fact accurately, and most importantly, find a quiet and safe place if you feel overly exposed.
Keep in mind that normalizing the situation does not mean minimizing or invalidating your symptoms; it is clear that in a panic attack you suffer a lot. But putting the situation in perspective can help you with what to do if you are having an anxiety attack.
If you ever have an anxiety attack, try to follow the guidelines outlined. The most important thing is that you know that a panic or anxiety attack is not something dangerous, even if it is very scary.
And above all, remember that it is important to call in a professional to identify the possible causes of these attacks and prevent them. Especially if the attacks are repeated over time.
Our thoughts When we talk about the anxiety of life, we are referring here to a type of distress that is centered in particular on the fear of suffering …
