{"id":8162,"date":"2016-05-16T07:00:44","date_gmt":"2016-05-16T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=8162"},"modified":"2016-05-12T08:27:21","modified_gmt":"2016-05-12T12:27:21","slug":"practical-tips-to-overcome-panic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2016\/05\/practical-tips-to-overcome-panic.html","title":{"rendered":"Practical Tips to Overcome Panic"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ID-10087370\"<\/a>Josh looked at his audience and began to panic. What if he humiliated himself? What if he forgot his speech? What if he bombed with his audience? His heart began to race, his hands became sweaty. Josh felt like he was about to faint and couldn’t think. His mind went blank. Josh was having a panic attack.<\/p>\n

Panic can be frightening because of the intense physical and psychological symptoms associated with it. During a panic attack, you may feel as if you will die or lose total control. However, panic will not lead to a heart attack, suffocation, fainting, falling or you going crazy. You may feel<\/em> as if these things are about to happen because of the physical sensations you experience. But the reality is these sensations will pass, and your health will not be endangered. Panic is very unpleasant, but not dangerous.<\/p>\n

Here are a few\u00a0practical tips to help overcome panic:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0Know what triggers panic.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0There may be a pattern or specific thing that brings on panic. For Josh, it was speaking in public. Try to record what happens prior to the attack and see if you can idenitify\u00a0a common trigger. For example, panic may come every time you see your stepfather, feel enclosed, have to make a public speech, or take an important test.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0Eliminate stimulants from your diet<\/strong> (caffeine, nicotine, medications). These can aggravate and trigger anxiety.<\/p>\n

3) Don\u2019t try to resist or avoid the panic symptoms.<\/strong> Instead recognize the symptoms and tell yourself you can handle them. They will pass. Avoiding just reinforces the fear and doesn’t help you master the symptoms. Working with panic means riding into the storm, not avoiding it.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0Repeat a “Yes I can”\u00a0statement over and over. <\/strong>For example, “God has not given me a spirit of fear. I can ride this out and be OK. Nothing terrible is going to happen to me. This will soon pass. I can take the hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

5) Go through the panic.\u00a0<\/strong>Don’t try to escape, instead endure it and you will eventually see that nothing terrible happens.<\/p>\n

The key to overcoming panic is exposing yourself to it and coming out on the other side. Take away your safely measures and be fully exposed. This is what releases most people from panic. \u00a0For example, if you panic going into an elevator, don’t keep taking the stairs (that is avoidance). Find a therapist who will help you face the fear and get on that elevator no matter how afraid you are. Then hit the button and down you go. It will feel terrible, but at the end, you realize you did it, you didn’t die or faint. This mastery will build your confidence to do it again and again until the panic is gone.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Josh looked at his audience and began to panic. What if he humiliated himself? What if he forgot his speech? What if he bombed with his audience? His heart began to race, his hands became sweaty. Josh felt like he was about to faint and couldn’t think. His mind went blank. Josh was having a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[135,137,1504],"class_list":["post-8162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-anxiety","tag-fear","tag-panic"],"yoast_head":"\nPractical Tips to Overcome Panic<\/title>\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\/2016\/05\/practical-tips-to-overcome-panic.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Practical Tips to Overcome Panic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Josh looked at his audience and began to panic. 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