How to Stop A Panic Attack

Once you have calmly acknowledged that you are having a panic attack the first thing to do is focus on your breathing. What this means is that you should concentrate on breathing in deeply through your nose, pausing for 2 or 3 seconds, and then exhaling slowly through your mouth. While you do this focus on counting, such as saying to yourself "In, one, two, three..." as you inhale through your nose and "Out, two, three, four.." as you exhale through your mouth. Although most experts agree that it is actually easier to prevent a panic attack from happening in the first place than it is to suppress one that has already started, once you are experiencing a panic attack, start by focusing on your breathing as a first step to stopping it.

The next thing to do is to focus on clearing your mind. "How do I do that?"", you may ask. Well, we've already begun in Step One! By counting as you breathe in and out in a controlled manner you have already begun the process of clearing your mind. Continue your breathing and counting, but also try to focus on some nondescript spot off in the distance. Avoid focus on busy artwork or magazine covers or television, but instead focus on something like a mark on a wall or the leaf on a tree. Basically, focus on something that won't cause your mind to race as an intense piece of artwork might or as a magazine cover or colorful poster in a window might. By this point your mind should be clear, your breathing should be controlled and you should be counting as you breathe while focusing on something in the distance. Concentrate on avoiding negative thoughts and if your mind starts to wander or any thoughts creep in, just focus on your breathing and counting.

As you begin to feel yourself calm slightly (which you should if you followed the advice in Steps 1 and 2 above), start to reassure yourself that everything will be alright. This is a simple, but effective, technique that involves you saying to yourself things like, "I am starting to feel calmer", "Everything is going to be OK", "I have experienced this before and am in control", "I am not going to allow anything to upset me" and so forth. These affirmative statements reinforce to yourself that you are in control and really do work even for the most severe panic attack sufferers. There are certainly more sophisticated techniques for stopping a panic attack before it begins, but these affirmative statements are extremely helpful to many sufferers.

The simple act of getting comfortable and closing your eyes can go a long way to stopping a panic attack. As you proceed through the steps above sometimes the act of focusing on some object in the distance may not have the desired calming effect. This could be due to the fact that visual stimuli is still causing you stress. When this happens, it is important to make yourself comfortable. This usually involves sitting and doing this in a quiet location. Once seated, continue your breathing and counting, but try it with your eyes closed. The simple act of closing one's eyes can help reduce stress and alleviate an ongoing panic attack.

As you continue to use these steps, it is my goal that you will be able to stop any more of your panic attacks. Ultimately, you will probably want to stop having panic attacks for good like I did because there is no reason that anyone should have to continue to suffer and have their life interrupted with something that can be controlled and even cured.