How to Stop a Panic Attack

Panic attacks feel dangerous, but they’re usually a false alarm, and the alarm can be turned off. There’s no perfect way to stop a panic attack, and luckily your body doesn’t need perfection, it needs regulation. Here’s what’s happening when you’re panicking: your adrenaline is spiking and you’re moving into fight, flight mode.

Disclaimer: If you’re actually in an unsafe environment, like being chased by a bear, the panic response is really helpful. It gives you the energy and awareness to survive and reach safety quickly.

But panic attacks that sneak up out of nowhere can be more harmful than helpful. They’re terrifying, and they make you feel powerless, but you’re not. There’s a few things you can remember that can dramatically regulate yourself quickly.

Firstly, this won’t last forever. Our adrenaline is like a rocket ship. It strikes fast and hard. It needs the boosters to get to the atmosphere, but once the ship’s there, it ejects the boosters, and relies on the rest of the ship to complete the journey. That’s the parasympathetic nervous system, the part of your body that helps you rest and recover. Ironically, it takes about 5 minutes to get to space via rocket, and it takes a similar amount of time to feel the adrenaline’s effects on your body dissolve. It’s important to remember that your body cannot physically sustain panic; it takes way too much energy. Without doing anything else, knowing that this feeling, at a biologically, has to go away rather quickly can give us so much more confidence to wait for the alarms to shut off and stop us from running around the halls desperate to find an escape.

My favorite regulation tool to use anytime and anywhere: OUT LOUD, name what’s happening in the space around you, using this guide:

5 - Items you can see

4 - Textures you can feel

3 - Noises you can hear

2 - Smells you can identify

1 - Flavor you can tasteYou’ve just shown your body 15 pieces of evidence that it’s okay to turn off the alarms. 

I find it helpful to name every item out loud. When I don’t, I feel like I’m feeling without experiencing, and our bodies experience change, they can’t just think about it.

This works because when you’re stuck in panic, you’re focused on internal sensations like dizziness, racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, and muscle tension. When you use your 5 external senses, you’re helping your body experience that your environment is actually safe. Because there’s a big difference between Mid Century Furniture and a bear attack.

If your mind is running non-stop, I provide therapy in Kansas for folks who are tired of thinking about change and want to experience it. Reach out at TherapyChris.com