Master Your Mind | 5 Techniques to End Anxiety and Panic Attacks

 

Introduction

 

When not adequately controlled, anxiety and panic attacks can be terrifying and dramatically alter your life. Often, Anxiety attacks are so scary when they first appear that Every detail of that first attack becomes permanently etched in their mind.

 

If you're someone who suffers from anxiety attacks, you may be wondering if there is anything you can do to stop them in their tracks. When you can learn different techniques for preventing a panic attack, you can start to control them rather than them having control over you effectively.

Panic attacks cause the victim of the attack to experience a sudden and intense fear, even when there is no visible danger present or no identifiable trigger.

 This unfounded fear then triggers your body's emergency system to become activated and the physical fight-or-flight reactions to take over.

 

 This results in your body reacting as if it's under attack and it begins to fight for your life.

 

Anxiety and panic attacks can strike anyone, at any time without warning. This causes people to begin to fear when and where they might once again experience a panic attack.

 

They no longer feel like they are in control of their body and they start to limit their daily activities because of it dramatically. When this vicious cycle is allowed to continue, your world will keep getting smaller and smaller until you prefer not to leave your house.

 

The symptoms of a panic attack tend to peak in a few minutes. While panic attacks usually tend to be brief, they can last for several hours in some people. Once the panic attack has subsided, you can feel exhausted as if you just finished running a marathon or climbing a mountain.

 

The best thing that you can do is learn how to stop the panic attacks before they even start. Here are five proven effective techniques that can interrupt the cycle of anxiety attacks and stop them before they start.

 

Focus on Your Breathing

 

The single, most important thing that you need to know when you are suffering from a panic attack or general stress is how to breathe correctly. When we panic, our bodies naturally start to breathe incorrectly. Unfortunately, the more efficient your breathing, the worse your fear becomes and a vicious cycle of panic starts, leaving you feeling completely out of control.

 

As a general rule, if only your shoulders and chest are rising when you breathe in, you are breathing in a way that will significantly worsen your stress. That is why it is so important to make sure that when you breathe, your abdomen is expanding with each breath in. When you are feeling anxious, this can end up feeling unnatural, and even like you are making things worse. 

You must continue doing it, no matter how uncomfortable you are feeling. When you breathe properly through your diaphragm, within minutes, your nervous system will begin to shift out of the sympathetic mode.

 

The other vital thing that you need to try to remember is that you should spend more time exhaling than you do inhaling. Make sure that you are inhaling through your nose, and exhaling through your mouth. Again, you might feel uncomfortable and find it challenging to manage proper breathing when you are in the midst of an anxiety attack, but you must remain persistent. Some doctors even recommend making the "shhh" sound on your exhale because it naturally slows down your breathing.

 

 Control Your Thoughts

 

Have you ever made a phone call and ended up being put on hold? There's the annoying elevator music, the waiting, and no one to talk to. The experience can have quite a sedative effect on your energy. When you are experiencing a panic attack, this is the kind of atmosphere that you want to try to cultivate in your mind. You need to try to put your anxious thoughts and panic on hold.

 

Various meditation techniques and anxiety reduction methods have the same effect on your anxious thoughts. If your particular anxiety is a result of your constant worrying or ruminating, the most important thing you can do to stop a panic attack is just to stop. Stop thinking. Stop talking to yourself internally.

 

When you are trying to control your thoughts, you may experience many other intrusive thoughts that make you feel like you are currently too panicked to have any control over your thoughts. However, being consistent is the key. 

Meditation experts will tell you that you need to keep bringing your mind back to the blankness every single time it starts to wander. This technique will also work when you are experiencing a panic attack.

 If you can bring your mind back to the present and pull it from the past or the future, you can effectively stop the panic attack in its tracks.

 

So, when you are experiencing symptoms of anxiety attack, think back to the last time you were on hold. Pretend that you are the phone operator and your mind is the customer who is refusing to be put on hold, and so what some companies do to us and leave your panic on hold.

Relax Your Body

 

The tension in our muscles and body is linked directly to stress and anxiety. When a panic attack starts to set in, no matter where you are

 you need to find the most comfortable and relaxing position you can

 find. For you this may be sitting in a chair, lying down, or standing

 up. 

Do whatever feels the most comfortable to you. You must avoid

 doing any strenuous activity that can increase your heart rate

 because this can end up making your panic attack worse.

 

As you relax wherever you feel most comfortable, start to

 engage in the progressive muscle relaxation technique, (PMR).

 PMR is a deep relaxation technique that has been proven to

 adequately control symptoms of stress and anxiety, as well

 as relieving insomnia and reducing symptoms of chronic pain.

 

 Start by moving your shoulders around to try and loosen them and release some of the tension. Next, while inhaling contract one muscle

 group for five to ten seconds, then when you exhale, suddenly

 release the tension in that muscle.

 Allow yourself 10 to 20 seconds to relax before you move on to the next muscle group.

 

When you release the tension in each muscle group, try to focus on

 the changes you feel when the muscle is relaxed.

 

Employing imagery along with the release of tension might

 be helpful. For example, you can try to imagine the stressful

 feelings flowing out of your body as each muscle group relaxes.

 Gradually work your way up your body, contracting and relaxing

 each of your muscle groups. Once you've moved through each of

 your muscle groups, spend a little time stretching the muscles out to

 contribute to your loose and relaxed feeling.

 Get Some Exercise

 

There are numerous benefits that you can gain by exercising

 regularly. Along with improving your energy levels, enhancing your

 mood, and promoting quality sleep regular exercise can also be a

 proactive way for those suffering from panic attacks and anxiety

 disorders to release pent-up tension and reduce feelings of worry

 and fear.

 

Regular exercise has been proven to help alleviate some of the common issues that are brought on by anxiety and nervousness. To start, exercise can help to reduce the tension and tightness that is

 held throughout the body of those who suffer from anxiety.

 Secondly, regular exercise helps to produce endorphins which are

 the body's natural mood-enhancing hormone that the body uses to

 fight off pain and stress, and can help to decrease your sensitivity to

 your body's reaction to anxiety, along with reducing the

 intensity and frequency of panic attacks. Finally, participating in a

 regular exercise routine can help to reduce the levels of stress

 hormones in your body and help to improve your sense of well-

being.

 

Participating in regular exercise is one way that you can proactively start to practice self-care and overcome anxiety and panic attacks quickly. 

Along with the many other benefits of a daily exercise routine, you

 will begin to notice a shift in your overall self-confidence, which

 can help to reduce anxiety and improve your overall physical health.

Change Your Diet

 While your diet is unlikely to cause you to develop anxiety, if

you already suffer from an anxiety disorder, what you eat

could make it worse, and you could benefit from making

changes to your diet.

More and more research is pointing to a link between what you eat

 and your mood. Certain foods have been shown to help nourish your

 body and relieve feelings of distress, while other foods can cause

 changesthat could lead to your anxiety increasing.

 

When it comes to the food that you eat, can significantly

affect your anxiety levels. If you are dealing with regular

anxiety and panic attacks, then you might need to look at

what you are eating and make some dietary adjustments.

You can start by avoiding foods that might contribute to your

anxiety symptoms. You should try to limit your consumption

of the following foods.

 • Fried foods are extremely hard to digest, have very little nutritional

 content, and contribute to heart issues. The stress that they put on your body while it tries to digest them can increase your feelings of distress.

 

• Alcohol dehydrates you and throws off your nutritional and hormonal balance. It can also cause physical symptoms due to the toxins that can trigger anxiety attacks.

 

• Coffee and other kinds of caffeine are known to increase your heart rate and create sensations that may generate or mimic panic attacks.

 

• Dairy products, while not necessarily bad for you, when consumed in excess may heighten your adrenalin levels and contribute to anxiety.

• Refined sugars are the added sugars found in juice cookies and many other products. These types of sugars stimulate the body and can create a jitteriness that can exacerbate your anxiety symptoms.

 

• Acid foods like pickles, yogurt, sour cream, eggs, wine, and live all

 create acid. Evidence suggests that food that causes acid can cause a

 drop in magnesium levels. Magnesium levels have been shown to

 have an indirect relationship with anxiety symptoms.

 

Avoiding these foods won't cure your anxiety, but they might

provide you with some relief from your symptoms. If your

 diet mostly consists of these kinds of foods, by cutting back,

 you will likely notice some significant results in your anxiety.

Conclusion 

Anxiety is something that everyone experiences from time to

time. We all experience negative emotions like fear, stress,

anger, and doubt, which are normal. However,

when these emotions get out of hand and when they start to

take over our lives, it could point to a more severe condition.

 

 Millions of people suffer from anxiety disorders, so if your

anxious and negative thoughts have taken over your life, you're not

 alone.

 

If you're tired of always living in fear and are sick of the

 anxious thoughts that never seem to stop, then it's time to

 take control and learn how to end your anxiety and panic

 attacks that go along with it. 

These easy-to-use techniques can show you how to take control of your mind and finally put an end to your anxiety and panic attacks. Before you know it, you'll have control over your thoughts and will have taken back your life.