Method 1: Now calm yourself down.
1, do grounding practice, and put your attention back on yourself. Grounding gas can quickly and effectively make you forget your anxiety and focus on the present environment. Once you notice that you have acute anxiety symptoms, stop what you are doing and focus on the five senses. Try to grab a small object, such as a bunch of keys or a pressure ball, and play with your hands. Pay close attention to its weight and touch.
If you have a cold drink in your hand, take a sip slowly. Feel the feeling of holding a cup or bottle in your hand and the feeling of liquid in your mouth.
It may be helpful for you to review your current state in your mind. For example, say to yourself, "I'm Xiaoming. I am 22 years old and sitting in the living room. I just got home from work. "
2. Take a deep breath and help yourself relax. During a panic attack, you may hyperventilate. Even without hyperventilation, deep breathing can help you reduce stress, supply oxygen to your brain and help you concentrate. When you think you are about to have a panic attack, stop what you are doing and slow down your breathing. Inhale slowly and steadily through your nose, and then exhale through your mouth. Try to sit up straight or lie down with one hand on your abdomen and the other on your chest. When you inhale slowly, feel your abdomen bulge, and then use your abdominal muscles to push the air out slowly.
It may be helpful to count to 5 slowly every time you inhale or exhale.
3. Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings. When you have a panic attack, your mind may be confused. You may receive a lot of sensory information at once, causing sensory overload. Don't think about what's wrong with your body and brain. It may help you to control your feelings better. Sit quietly and try to describe your feelings and thoughts uncritically. For example, you may find that your heart is beating very fast and your hands are sweating a lot, fearing that you may faint.
Remind yourself that these are all symptoms of anxiety. Don't force yourself to "control" the symptoms, which will only aggravate the panic. You should tell yourself that these symptoms are only temporary and will soon disappear.
Tip: When thinking about your feelings, try to stay where you are and let your brain gradually realize that your situation is actually not dangerous. Running away will only make the brain more firmly associate your situation with panic.
4. Practice muscle relaxation gradually. Slowly tighten and relax every muscle group in your body. This can distract you from thinking about what scares you and relax your muscles. Start with the facial muscles and go down slowly until all the muscles are relaxed. Tighten each muscle group for 5- 10 seconds, and then relax. It is enough to do a group of muscles once, but of course it can be repeated several times.
The main muscles you can tighten and relax include chin, mouth (from sad state to relaxation), arms, hands, abdomen, buttocks, thighs, calves and feet.
Method 2: Control anxiety.
1, admit that you feel anxious. You want to relieve anxiety, but don't try to ignore it. Ignoring or suppressing emotions will make them accumulate and become more powerful and terrible. There is nothing wrong with admitting that you are afraid, and there is nothing wrong with it. It may be helpful to write down your feelings or discuss them with your friends.
2. Try to challenge and replace unrealistic ideas. Stop worrying about your thoughts and replace them with happy or calm thoughts to avoid falling into a vicious circle of negative thoughts. You can also ask yourself some questions. Are you afraid of a real crisis? Realize that you are afraid, but the situation is not dangerous. You can relax a little when you find yourself in no danger. For example, you may feel anxious about flying and can't stop thinking about what will happen when the plane crashes. Meditate in your mind or tell yourself "stop" loudly. Then change to peaceful and positive thoughts, such as thinking about holidays with friends and how much joy they bring you.
You can also change it to a more practical idea, such as "the probability of plane crash is very low." Flying is one of the safest modes of transportation. "
This method needs to be practiced many times to be effective, so be patient and be kind to yourself.
Remember: this method is very helpful to control generalized anxiety, but it doesn't work in the middle of panic attack, because panic attack is not necessarily caused by clear reasons or ideas.
3. Use guided imagination to help yourself relax and relieve anxiety. Imagine being in a place where you feel calm and relaxed. It can be your home, your favorite holiday resort, or the arms of your lover. Then add more sensory details and focus on imagination. Imagine what you see, smell, touch, hear and taste in this safe place. Open your eyes or close them, but closing them may be easier to imagine.
When you feel anxious, imagine your safe position in your mind. Imagine yourself feeling relaxed and calm in a prepared and safe place. After relaxing, you can stop imagining and return to reality.
Write down your feelings so that you can control them by yourself. If you are prone to panic attacks or feel anxious, prepare a diary to record all your feelings. Write down your feelings, your fears, your thoughts and beliefs about fear, and how strong your panic or anxiety is. This can help you concentrate your thoughts, and then rereading or reviewing can also help you find better countermeasures. At first, you may feel that there is nothing to write about. Keep trying and review the situation that prompted your anxiety attack. Once you slow down and think about the situation, you can identify which thoughts and feelings will increase anxiety.
When you keep a diary, you should be kind to yourself. Don't criticize yourself or your ideas. Remember that you may not be able to control the thoughts or feelings that appear. They are not "good" or "bad". You can only control your reaction to these thoughts and feelings.
Take good care of your body and keep yourself in the best condition. Paying attention to physical health is of great help to mental health. Healthy exercise and eating habits can't "cure" anxiety, but they can help control it. You can improve your physical and mental health in the following ways: exercise. Activating the body, especially doing more aerobic exercise, can release endorphins and increase the feeling of relaxation and pleasure.
Maintain a balanced diet. There is no "magic food" that can cure or prevent anxiety. However, avoiding processed foods and high-sugar foods does help. In addition, you should also eat complex carbohydrates such as lean protein and whole grains, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.
Avoid ingesting irritants. Stimulators such as caffeine and nicotine can make you feel nervous and uneasy, which may aggravate the existing anxiety disorder. Some people mistakenly think that smoking can calm the nerves, but this is not the case. You will become dependent on nicotine. When you don't take enough nicotine, your anxiety and stress will increase, and smoking is especially bad for your health.
6. Take positive actions to avoid falling into negative thoughts. Indulging in your anxiety will only worsen your situation and make it more difficult to overcome your panic. Do other things to distract your mind and body, such as cleaning the room, drawing pictures, calling friends, or other things that can keep you busy. It is best to engage in your own hobbies. Taking a bath or shower with warm water shows that warm feeling has a soothing and relaxing effect on many people. Try adding a few drops of essential oil of bee flower, bergamot, jasmine or lavender to the bath water. These essential oils all have sedative effects.
If you can find out the cause of anxiety, you might as well try to do something directly to relieve it. For example, if you are worried about the coming exam, take a few minutes to review your notes. This will make you more sure of your situation.
7. Use music therapy to help you relax. Create a playlist that can relax or cheer you up. When you feel anxious, listen to the songs in the playlist to help you calm down. Try to use noise-canceling headphones, so that you can concentrate all your attention on the song. Listen attentively to all the parts and lyrics (if any) of this song, and shift your full attention from fear to this song. Try to listen to slow-paced songs at about 60 beats per minute. It is best to have easy lyrics or no lyrics at all. Fast-paced or angry songs may increase stress.
8. Ask a friend for help. When you are in deep anxiety and can't seem to get rid of it, you might as well ask your family and friends for help. Let them distract you and help you analyze your fears, so that you can overcome the stress you feel. If you are prone to panic attacks, you might as well teach your friends various ways to deal with panic attacks and let them know what to do when you ask for help. For example, let them hold your hand when you have a panic attack and reassure them that you are not in danger now.
Method 3: Seek professional treatment.
1. If the anxiety is serious or lasts for a long time, it is recommended to consult a therapist. If the panic is serious and lasts for a long time, seek treatment and advice from a mental health professional. You may suffer from panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder, and trained professionals can help you. The most common and effective treatment for anxiety disorder is cognitive behavioral therapy. Therapists will teach you to identify and change useless thoughts and behaviors.
Sometimes, if other treatments fail, doctors or psychiatrists may prescribe some drugs to control anxiety. Drugs combined with psychological counseling and lifestyle changes can play the best role.
Seek the doctor's advice or ask him to recommend an expert. It is difficult to find a licensed mental health expert in some communities, especially if your income is low or the insurance you buy has many restrictions. When you suffer from anxiety, but you can't seek psychiatric treatment immediately, you might as well talk to your doctor. Most doctors can't provide psychotherapy, and only psychiatrists are trained in this field, so they can diagnose anxiety, depression and other problems and prescribe them. They can also recommend supplements that may help you, or give advice on lifestyle changes.
If you are not sure whether your symptoms are caused by anxiety, you can check with a doctor to rule out physiological reasons.
Family doctors can also recommend mental health experts in your area.
3. If you can't afford the treatment, you can find a community clinic. If the cost of treatment is too high, see if there are any low-cost options in the community. For example, if you are in the United States, a federally funded health center may provide mental health treatment. You can search the nearest health center here.
Ask the therapist whether to implement floating charges. Some therapists and clinics charge fees according to patients' income.
Many colleges and universities provide mental health services. Some services are reserved for students, but some big universities will also set up community clinics, and medical students who are still in training will provide services under the supervision of professional doctors. This kind of clinic is usually cheap.
Method 4: Identify panic attacks
1, check whether there are physiological symptoms. Although anyone can have panic disorder, it is more common among panic patients. Panic disorder is a kind of anxiety disorder, which is characterized by frequent and sudden intense fear and anxiety. Any situation may cause a panic attack, not limited to dangerous or life-threatening situations. The physiological symptoms of panic attacks include chest pain, which is usually confined to a certain area of the chest, unlike the chest pain that spreads to the whole left side of the body during a heart attack.
Dizziness or fainting.
Feel suffocated or unable to breathe enough air.
Nausea or vomiting. Vomiting is more common in heart attacks than in panic attacks.
A tingling feeling.
The heart beats faster.
panting
Sweating, cold skin or hot flashes.
Tremble.
In a severe panic attack, hands and feet may cramp or even be temporarily paralyzed. This symptom is thought to be caused by hyperventilation.
Warning: Many symptoms of panic attacks are similar to heart attacks. If you have chest pain, fainting or numbness in your hands, and you have never experienced a panic attack before, you must go to the emergency room immediately or contact your doctor. They can check your symptoms and confirm whether there is a cause worthy of attention.
2. Pay attention to whether there is fear. In addition to physical symptoms, panic attacks are usually accompanied by mental or emotional symptoms, which may include: strong fear.
Fear of death.
Afraid of losing control.
I feel that bad luck is coming.
I feel out of touch with my surroundings.
Feeling divorced from reality.
3. Be familiar with the symptoms of heart attack. Panic attacks are similar to some symptoms of heart attacks. If you are not sure whether you are having a panic attack or a heart attack, seek emergency treatment immediately. Symptoms of a heart attack include chest pain. The feeling of oppression, flatulence or tightness in the chest usually lasts for more than a few minutes.
Upper body pain. If it is a heart attack, the pain may spread to the arm, back, neck, chin or abdomen.
Shortness of breath may occur before chest pain.
Anxiety. Suddenly feel fear or bad luck.
Dizziness or fainting.
Sweating.
Nausea or vomiting. Heart attacks are more likely to cause vomiting than panic attacks.
4. Distinguish between normal anxiety and panic disorder. Everyone occasionally feels stressed or anxious. But for most people, this anxiety is mostly caused by something or a situation, such as taking an important exam or making an important decision. As long as the situation is solved, the anxiety disappears. Anxiety patients feel anxious more frequently than others. Panic sufferers are more likely to have severe panic attacks. Panic attacks will peak within 10 minutes, and some symptoms may last longer. Stress or anxiety in a broad sense may last longer, but it is not so intense.
Panic attacks don't need a specific cause, and they may happen suddenly and inexplicably.
Tip: rosary is very helpful for panic attacks. You can use them to draw your attention back to yourself and direct your thoughts to activities that make you feel relaxed.
Aromatherapy can help you if you have panic attacks. White noise can also calm you down, even if you just feel stressed, it will help.
Regular exercise and learning relaxation techniques are helpful to reduce stress and promote sleep. Sleep is very important for anxiety patients, so don't stay up late on purpose.
Remember, you have the love, care and support of your family and friends. Don't be afraid to discuss with them even if your question is difficult to say.
Chamomile can help some people relax and calm down. However, some people are allergic to it, and it will interact with drugs. It is best to consult a doctor before taking chamomile.
Warning If you often have panic attacks, you'd better seek professional help as soon as possible. Delaying treatment will only worsen the problem.
If you are not sure whether you are having a panic attack or a heart attack, seek emergency treatment immediately.