If you’ve experienced a panic attack, you understand how debilitating it can be. The sudden rush of fear combines with dizziness, and your heart starts pounding out of your chest. You struggle to take a breath and feel as though you’re losing control. Close to 3% of adults in the United States experience these symptoms at least once a year, and these episodes can even mimic physical medical emergencies.
The good news is, you’re not completely powerless when a panic attack happens. By developing effective panic attack coping skills, you can learn how to get through these intense episodes, calm your racing thoughts, and regain your sense of calm. You can use this guide as a checklist to help walk you through each stage of panic.
Why Self-Awareness Is Key When Developing Panic Attack Coping Skills
To effectively manage symptoms of a panic attack, it’s important to know what’s going on inside your body and why it reacts the way it does. When you have a panic attack, your body goes into fight-or-flight mode. Your brain detects stimuli it perceives as threats. The amygdala misfires and floods your system with adrenaline, which prepares you to face nonexistent danger.
When adrenaline pumps through your body, you experience a rapid heartbeat, sweating and trembling. Even though the threat isn’t real, the physical symptoms are. When you recognize the symptoms and start telling yourself. “This is a panic attack, not a heart attack. I’m safe. The feelings will pass,” you take the first step in de-escalating the situation.
The Panic Attack De-Escalation Checklist
Knowing how to stop an anxiety attack isn’t a test you can pass or fail. It’s an active exercise to ground you in the moment and calm your overactive nervous system.
Step 1: Acknowledge the Panic and Name It
The first step in developing panic attack coping skills is acknowledging when an attack happens. Say it out loud. Sometimes verbalizing it can make it feel more real. Tell yourself, “This is a panic attack. It’s only temporary. It’s not dangerous. It will pass.”
Before continuing, have you acknowledged what’s happening to you?
Step 2: Focus on Breathing
Panic attacks can cause you to become short of breath, increasing feelings of dizziness and anxiety. By developing breathing techniques and slowing your breathing, you send a signal to your brain that all threats have passed.
One simple technique is called box breathing:
- Slowly breathe in through your nose and count to four.
- Hold your breath while you count again in your head to four.
- Slowly exhale through your mouth for a count of four.
- Again, hold your breath while you mentally count to four.
- Repeat this exercise for a full minute.
Before continuing, have you focused on your breathing for at least a minute?
Step 3: Use the 5-4-3-2-1 Coping Technique
Also known as the five-senses technique, this method focuses on using all your senses to bring you back to the present moment. This grounding technique forces you to use your external environment rather than allowing your thoughts and feelings to take over. Answer the following prompts below.
5 Things You Can See
Look around the room and notice specific details about your surroundings. What type of grain is in the wood on your desk? What color is the spine on your favorite book? Is there a crack somewhere in your ceiling?
List five things in your surroundings you can see.
4 Things You Can Feel
Focus on physical sensations. What’s the temperature in the room? How do your clothes feel against your skin? Put your feet flat on the floor and describe the sensation. Describe the weight of your blanket when you wrap it around your shoulders.
List four things you can feel.
3 Things You Can Hear
Listen carefully. Even though you may be sitting in silence, there’s a good chance there are background noises you haven’t noticed. Focus on the hum your computer makes as the fan turns on. Are birds chirping outside? Can you hear your heating and cooling system turn on and off? Listen to the sound your own body makes as you breathe in and out.
List three things you can hear.
2 Things You Can Smell
This can be the trickiest step, so really focus on your surroundings. Maybe you smell coffee brewing if it’s first thing in the morning. Can you smell the scent of soap on your hands from washing up? What do your laundered clothes smell like? If you’re having trouble identifying scents in the room, consider your favorite smells. Do you love the smell of fresh-cut grass or baked goods?
List two things you can smell.
1 Thing You Can Taste
Can you describe the current taste in your mouth? Alternatively, grab a stick of gum and think about the flavor or take a sip of your drink.
List one thing you can taste.
Before continuing, confirm you’ve completed each of the steps in the five senses technique.
Step 4: Check In With Yourself
After completing the previous steps, evaluate your symptoms and determine whether the techniques are helping. Rate each activity on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the peak of your panic. Where is your anxiety level now? If you still feel your number is high, repeat Step 2 or Step 3 until your symptoms are under control.
When Panic Becomes a Pattern: What to Do Next
Over 30% of adults in the United States have struggled with anxiety at some point in their lives. Because of this, it’s not uncommon to experience a single panic attack. However, if you’re constantly worrying about your next event or you find these episodes are interfering with your daily life, you may be developing panic disorder.
If your panic attacks occur on a regular basis or grounding techniques aren’t working, it’s time to seek more structured support.
Finding Support for Panic and Anxiety Disorders
It’s important to know that you don’t have to manage panic attacks on your own. In addition to developing panic attack coping skills, you can seek professional help. Cognitive behavioral therapy is highly effective at helping individuals discover their triggers and reduce the frequency and intensity of panic attacks. Some health care providers also prescribe medications, such as antidepressants, beta blockers or benzodiazepines, to help with severe panic disorders.
If you’re ready to take the next step toward freedom from panic, contact the dedicated team at FHE Health. We specialize in treating anxiety and panic disorders through comprehensive, individualized care.
