{"id":22466,"date":"2024-02-20T08:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T13:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=22466"},"modified":"2024-02-10T08:35:53","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T13:35:53","slug":"12-steps-to-help-with-panic-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/02\/12-steps-to-help-with-panic-attacks.html","title":{"rendered":"12 Steps to Help With Panic Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/01\/panic-button-1067100_1280.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-22599\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/01\/panic-button-1067100_1280.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"983\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Panic is not a feeling anyone likes to have. The intensity of physical and psychological symptoms is often frightening. During a panic attack, you may feel as if you will die or lose total control.\u00a0 However, neither is likely to happen. Still, no one wants to experience the discomfort that comes with these attacks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What can you do when panic strikes? Here are 12 steps you can take to ward off panic attacks and live a less anxious life:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t panic about panic.<\/strong> Panic will not lead to a heart attack, suffocation, fainting, falling or you going crazy. You may <em>feel<\/em> as if these things are about to happen because of the physical sensations you experience. The reality is these sensations will pass, and your health will not be endangered. Panic is very unpleasant, but not dangerous.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t tense up and try to resist the panic symptoms.<\/strong> Instead recognize the symptoms and tell yourself you can handle them. They will pass. Push through the anxious feelings.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Repeat a positive statement over and over. <\/strong>g., I can ride this out and be OK. Nothing terrible is going to happen to me. This will soon pass. I can practice relaxing right now.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Know what triggers panic attacks.<\/strong> There may be a pattern or specific thing that brings on panic. Try to record what was happening prior to the attack and see if you can find a common trigger. For example, panic may come every time you see your stepfather, when you are enclosed in a space, have to speak public ally, or see a large dog, etc.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Temporarily leave the situation if it is the cause of the panic.<\/strong> You don\u2019t want to run away from anxiety-provoking people, situations or things but it is OK to leave for a short period of time, calm down and then return.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Talk to someone.<\/strong> This might help distract your mind from the feelings of panic.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Get up and move around<\/strong>. Physical movement may dissipate some of the adrenalin leading to panic.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Focus on an object near you to distract yourself<\/strong>. Play a puzzle, game, repeat numbers in your head, sing \u2013anything that takes your mind off the panic symptoms.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Think about something calming and peaceful<\/strong>. Picture yourself relaxed and in the presence of God. Or a beach or snowy cabin in the woods. Visualize a calm and peaceful place.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Practice relaxation strategies like deep breathing and muscle tensing\/relaxing.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Eliminate stimulants from your diet<\/strong> (caffeine, nicotine, certain medications). These can aggravate and trigger anxiety.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Consider anti-anxiety medications. <\/strong>These are not for everyone, but sometimes medication can combat anxiety and give you time to practice new coping skills. There are a number of medications options, but the SSRIs are the first line of defense. See a qualified physician who knows how to treat panic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most important thing to remember when it comes to fighting panic attacks is that you will not die and can overcome them. In addition to these practical steps, learn and repeat scriptures regarding fear and anxiety. God hasn\u2019t given you a spirit of fear. The Bible has much to offer when it comes to combating worry and anxiety.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Panic is not a feeling anyone likes to have. The intensity of physical and psychological symptoms is often frightening. During a panic attack, you may feel as if you will die or lose total control.\u00a0 However, neither is likely to happen. Still, no one wants to experience the discomfort that comes with these attacks. What&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4099],"tags":[135,137,1504,6305,6314],"class_list":["post-22466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stress","tag-anxiety","tag-fear","tag-panic","tag-panic-attack","tag-panic-attacks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>12 Steps to Help With Panic Attacks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The intensity of panic is often frightening. You may feel as if you will die or lose total control.\u00a0Neither is likely to happen.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=22466\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"12 Steps to Help With Panic Attacks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The intensity of panic is often frightening. 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You may feel as if you will die or lose total control.\u00a0Neither is likely to happen.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=22466","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"12 Steps to Help With Panic Attacks","og_description":"The intensity of panic is often frightening. You may feel as if you will die or lose total control.\u00a0Neither is likely to happen.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=22466","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2024-02-20T13:00:35+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-02-10T13:35:53+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/01\/panic-button-1067100_1280.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=22466","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=22466","name":"12 Steps to Help With Panic Attacks","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=22466#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=22466#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/01\/panic-button-1067100_1280.jpg","datePublished":"2024-02-20T13:00:35+00:00","dateModified":"2024-02-10T13:35:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"description":"The intensity of panic is often frightening. 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. 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