Managing Panic Attacks

The Art of Relaxation

There are may ways to help your body control a panic attack. Learning to meditate, TAI CHI, Yoga, muscle relaxation, breathing exercises and visualization techniques will all help.

These all sound like things you can learn to do on your own, but they are not. They are all part of Operand Conditioning. This type of conditioning trains the body to act in a certain way when it receives certain signals. If the exercise is learned well enough, it may override the signals that are causing the panic attack and bring it under control.


Relaxation techniques help lessen the duration and symptoms: headaches, anxiety, high blood pressure, trouble sleeping, hyperventilation, and clenching or grinding teeth. The techniques can also help the sufferer bring themselves back out of their 'dark place' and into reality.

These steps can help you relax:

Sit or lie in a comfortable position

Close Your eyes

Start at your feet and relax all the muscles until the whole body feels heavy and relaxed. This is a slow process that should take as long as 30 minutes to complete. Start with the toes, move to the ankles and slowly up your legs inch by inch. When you get to your waist then relax the finger tips and start moving up the arms. As you work on this exercise it will become easy. It will naturally relax your mind and body. You'll get to the point where you feel like you are melting away..do not worry. Melting away is a sensation caused when the nerves stop working over time.


Let your mind drift. Don't focus on thoughts. Don't focus on the rights and wrongs that have been done. Especially, don't try to work out what you are going to say to people, or what you should have said in a stressful situation.

Imagine you breath from the stomach. You are a big bottle and air fills your body like water fills a bottle - from the bottom up. Fill your stomach with air, let it rise naturally - don't force it. Fill your lungs next, then the top of the bottle.

After five or 10 minutes, rouse yourself from the state gradually.

To maximize the benefits of these stress-reduction techniques, be sure to also get adequate sleep, eliminate caffeine and other stimulants from your diet, and engage in regular exercise. About 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity most days of the week can improve your psychological well-being.

Problem Solving

Learning to improve your communication skills and practice problem solving skills. Learning to solve problems and to follow basic problem solving systems will reduce stress and the feeling of being 'out of control.'

Attitude

Changing Your Attitude can have a dramatic effect on the body. People who feel like they are in control, or who take control of situations are far more healhty than people who try to guilt/bully/passive agressively force others to handle their problems.

People who with a low self esteem are also more suseptbal to stress related diseases. A self esteem is a personal thing. It has nothing to do with what people say about us, or what mistakes we make. It is what we think about ourselves. A life can be changed by learning to like yourself.