The key to understanding how to deal with panic attacks most effectively is to first understand what they are and why. Once you’ve consulted with your doctor and further educated yourself by researching the topic on your own, you’ll see that the insights you gain make dealing with panic attacks so much easier.
In addition to various treatments, there are many self-help programs offering different strategies for how to deal with panic attacks most effectively. Many come in the form of inexpensive eBooks that provide a foundation of educational information about the nature, symptoms, causes and treatments of panic attacks as the basis for then learning strategies for dealing with panic attacks.
Panic attacks are terrifying experiences that strike suddenly without warning and for no apparent reason. You become overwhelmed by extreme fear and anxiety about some real or perceived danger, and it’s usually only a thought, not a reality. The extreme level of anxiety triggers a flood of excess adrenaline, known as the fight or flight hormone, and it prepares your body for strenuous physical activity. It’s only doing its job. It’s a natural hormone made to protect you from danger. But in the case of a panic attack, extreme anxiety, excessive adrenaline and your evermore anxious reactions to it combine to cause immediate chemical changes throughout your body resulting in symptoms similar to those of a heart attack, a nervous breakdown, and more. All of this peaks in about 10 minutes and subsides in the hours that follow while you understandably pile fear on top of fear.
One of the most enlightening insights I found in one of those self-help programs was this simple, commonsense logic: How you react to things is what defines the experience, and this is true of everything in life including how you react to panic attacks. The author then goes on to explain that you can’t get rid of the terrifying thoughts that triggered the panic attack, so your only alternative is to accept this and learn how to react in ways that make things easier for you. From there he shows coping skills for how to deal with panic attacks on the spot when they happen, plus strategies in your everyday life.
It’s all aimed at showing ways of how to deal with panic attacks that can help you react most effectively and retain your sense of control in order to minimize their effect on you when they strike.
