Three effective ways to fight an anxiety attack

Many people, throughout their lives, have experienced the terrible sensation that produces an anxiety attack. Palpitations and tachycardias, feeling that you are choking, rapid breathing, numbness … and, of course, a high fear of death, as if something bad were going to happen to you. If you recognize these symptoms, it is because you, like 260 million other people in the world, have you ever suffered something like this.

Perhaps it is due to the current lifestyle, but more and more people suffer anxiety in the world. Although they last very little, the main problem they have these panic attacks is that, on many occasions, they are triggered without a reason or the person does not know how to identify why. Although most people suffer one but do not have to experience more in your lifeOthers, however, can develop a panic disorder, which is diagnosed when people live in fear of another attack and even change their behavior in hopes of avoiding it. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and they can learn to manage.

Why do we have attacks

You first have to understand what a panic attack is. It is an over-activation of the body's sympathetic nervous system, which triggers the fight or flight response. In other words, it is a survival mechanismFor example, if we see a tiger among some bushes, we feel fear, which is what will make us flee. If someone yells at us we will get angry and respond the same way, it is the way that our brain has to guarantee that we live.

Panic attacks (and all anxiety attacks) are simply a nervous system failure to regulate your emotions appropriately. It is normal to feel fear when the tiger comes for you, but not when you must go to a party. They can occur on their own or as symptom of another diagnosis (bipolar disorder, post traumatic stress, etc.), but still pathology it will always be the same. In other words, whatever diagnosis you have, the attack will always be the same.

Stable breathing is one of the best tools to overcome a panic attack and confront negative thoughts.

During a panic attack, this sympathetic nervous system is intended to calm down to activate the parasympathetic, promoting relaxation. The problem is that, as we said at the beginning, it is sometimes very difficult to diagnose why it starts. Generally it is due to a factor that, for a reason, makes you to feel scared. For example, the last time you flew there was turbulence, which has made you not want to get on a plane again. You don't know why you react so strongly to this fear, your rational part is baffled and fear begins to grow. To not feel it you restrict yourself and consequently you decide that you will never fly again.

1) The breaths

In the end, what happens to you is that you are afraid of fear. Breathing, at this time, is essential. This is how the psychiatrist David Merrill tells it in a recent article published in 'Insider': "Deep and slow breaths can stimulate the vagus nerve, which will later activate the parasympathetic nervous system. Visualize the tension of each muscle from the head to the toes, and then relax, it can also help slow down the heart and breathing. Stable breathing is one of the best tools to overcome a panic attack and confront negative thoughts. "

2) Learn to cope

The fear of fear and death must serve to understand that, in many cases, it is only a vicious circle. If you are afraid of experience fearYou are already experiencing it, so perhaps you should not try to stop it at all costs. It may seem simple at first glance, but it is not at all, you have to train your mind to understand that you are not dying, you are simply having an anxiety attack and that, even if that happens, nothing happens. You may feel that you are going to die, but you must remember that you have survived before and that, although the attacks are unpleasant, they are not physically harmful and most will pass to after five or ten minutes.

3) Therapy can help you

Therapy can be effective to alleviate panic attacks and panic disorder. In it, patients can slowly introduce themselves to the triggers of their anxiety, and thus can learn to control (with the help of a doctor) their response. It is about them regaining control over their thought processes and thus intervening in them when they feel that an attack is approaching.

Likewise, medication can also help control anxiety and panic attacks. Benzodiazepines, as reported by the psychiatrist, are the most commonly prescribed medications in these cases. They work depressing the body's nervous system, which is over-activated during a panic attack, but should never be used in the long term.