Panic attacks come out of nowhere and terrify you
Without warning, it seizes you — the pounding heart, the closing throat, the certainty that you are dying or losing your mind. It passes, but the terror of the next one starts to shrink your life, and you dread the moments you cannot control.
Panic attacks are among the most frightening things the mind and body do, and understanding them takes much of their power. A panic attack is a false alarm — the body's emergency system firing with no real emergency — and however much it feels like dying, it is not. Three things help: know what it actually is, since the fear that you are dying feeds the panic further; stop fighting it and let the wave crest, because left alone it rises and falls within minutes and the fighting only adds fear to fear; and lengthen the out-breath, slow and unhurried, to signal the body that the danger has passed. You are not in danger, and this can be learned. If the attacks are frequent, a good doctor alongside this is wise. When did they begin for you?
What changes unlock by starting
- You understand panic as a false alarm
- You stop fighting it and let it crest
- You lose the fear of the fear
- You have a steady thing to reach for