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Coping with Anxiety
Anxiety: an emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior such as pacing back and forth, somatic complaints, and rumination.
People commonly feel anxious during stressful situations. Everyone has dealt with some form of anxiety during their lifetime. Some may have anxiety and have never been diagnosed by a doctor, some may be on depressants (medication) and others may not know that the source of what they are feeling stems from anxiety.
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Helping yourself during a panic attack:
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Recognize you are anxious or panicking (heavy breathing, holding your breath unintentionally, crying, racing heart, and racing thoughts)
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Find a way to focus on your breathing to calm yourself down by trying to slow down your breathes and to ultimately slow your heart rate
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After you slow your breaths, focus your mind on something less stressful. Common topics are people who make you happy, a “happy place”, or even food. Once you have done this, your body should slow down and begin to return to normal.
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There’s only one golden rule: GIVE YOURSELF TIME! It takes time to calm down so don’t be hard on yourself and allow yourself to be in the moment and let your body feel what’s going on. In the long run you can train yourself to start the calming process before you have a full on attack. Other common ways are to tap a pen, squeeze a stress ball, or even pace to ease your nerves and channel the extra energy.
Helping another during a panic attack:
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Have the person look at you and concentrate on your voice
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Ask them to try to count to 10 backwards or to say the alphabet. A common way of getting another person to calm down is by having them run through all 5 senses. Ask them to tell you something they can hear, something they can taste, something the smell, and something that they see, and lastly tell them to hold your hand (touch). This may seem a little unorthodox, but it has been proven to work in many cases.
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Be prepared to listen to the other person and give them space at the same time. Let them know that you are there for them and give them time as you would give yourself when you need to calm down.