If you have ever felt your heart pounding rapidly, tingling in your body, a sense of impending doom or thoughts of "am I having a heart attack or dying?" You're not alone as these are often common signs of a panic attack.
The walls may even like they are closing in or a sense of not being able to get out. Shallow breaths and an overwhelming feeling of loosing control may take over. You start to wonder, what is going on, I am just at work or at home doing nothing! So what do we often do? We tell ourselves the advice we have been given by people that probably mean well but isn't usually helpful or what we see on movies, “just relax” “take a deep breath” or “chill the F out."
The challenge is some of these responses may actually make us feel worse and increase the sensations and leave us wondering what is wrong with me and when will that happen again? I'm Jenny Yuzon, a Registered Social Worker providing virtual therapy across Ontario with people that are experiencing anxiety, trauma, stress and burnout and are looking for mind and body ways to respond to their mental health.
What is a Panic Attack?
A panic attack is our body’s natural fight-flight nervous system response kicking in. In evolution, or cave-people days our nervous system had to hunt and get its food but if a tiger jumped out, our system would respond 4 x faster than a blink of an eye. It solely focuses on survival and doing what our system feels is more life-saving in the moment. However, there may be no tiger in front of you but rather our system picking up on a perceived threat. The perceived threat could be an uncomfortable sensation, hard emotion, argument with a co-worker or even a thought of “am I having a heart attack.” Our thinking brain goes off-line and so we can’t think logically in that moment and that's often why telling ourselves “calm down” during a panic attack may not be helpful. We have to help show our nervous system that you are ok right now.
What May Cause Them?
Panic attacks can come from an accumulation of stress and if our system feels like it has maxed out all its resources, it will then go into panic mode. It can also come from a traumatic experience, including everyday challenges that we often don't view as trauma but may have a longer impact. Unfortunately our system hasn't had a chance to work through the stress response cycle to complete its natural tension so it stays in our body, trying to find ways to release.
Some people will describe a feeling of "going crazy” or “losing it” and may even have images of going to jail or being locked up in a hospital and causing even more panic and then sometimes isolation to feel like they are keeping themselves or others safe. A surge of adrenaline and cortisol will spike, the heart beats faster and may even start to hold your breath (survival response-if I hold my breath the tiger won’t hear me, smart system!).
5 Ways to Manage a Panic Attack
1. Inviting you to bring you attention to the sensation (heart beating fast, buzzing in my hands and feet, etc,) Recognize what is happening, shifting attention to sensations. *This gets us away from racing thoughts and intense emotions by focusing on sensations.
2.Push your feet into the ground or your back against the wall/chair and notice the back of the wall /chair making contact with your back. If you do not like pushing back a wall, you can also try pushing with your arms into a wall. *This grounding tool helps show our nervous system we are ok even though we may not feel like that in the moment.
3. Look around the room and notice what you see and hear and state them out loud. You can also do I Spy- pick a random colour and name all the items that are that colour. *This helps bring our attention to the present moment.
4. Tell yourself, I am having a mini or a small panic attack right now. *This isn't to minimize your experience but can help us with feeling like it's not as big as it may seem to help lessen the anxiety and feel more manageable.
5. With your eyes look far into the distance straight ahead and then up close, then far into the distance and then closer to you and repeat a few times until you start to feel a shift or things settling.
*This can be helpful because it shows our nervous system that "the tiger” is far away from me and I can breathe or I have time. We also have a strong connection between the eyes and our brain. To learn more, please feel free to check out my other blogs on Brainspotting.
We want to show your nervous system repeated signals of safety verse telling ourselves “be calm or relax.”
Practice , Practice, Practice
Practice does not make perfect despite the famous expression but rather practice makes it possible:) Practicing these strategies when you don't need them will help build this muscle and be more accessible for when you do need them.
Panic Attacks are Treatable
Panic attacks are very difficult, scary and treatable. Panic attacks happen quickly and subside as hormones are metabolized. It is completely normal to want to avoid the sensations or to not try grounding but this teaches our nervous system that this is a threat and will keeep the cycle going.
Our system picks up on self-judgment as a threat and creates another spike in cortisol. Being more kind towards ourselves can actually lower the cortisol and induce oxytocin, the feel good-hormone. This means we have the ability to work with our system over-time to feel better.
Looking for more support around anxiety and panic attacks? Intellectually know you are safe but still experiencing a racing heart, dizziness or shallow breathe? I am trained in Somatic Therapy modalities that can help process the emotional and physical responses rather than only talking about it. I invite you to book a free 15 minute consultation to learn more.
*Please note that if you are experiencing constant chest pain, difficulty breathing, or first-time symptoms to look into being medically evaluated, as some medical conditions can mimic panic attacks.
Jenny Yuzon
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