How to Help Prevent a Panic Attack

A panic attack is a horrible and gruesome attack of sudden and overwhelming fear that comes out of nowhere without a person knowing it is coming. This attack of fear will sneak upon its victim at any place and any time, no matter what he or she is doing or where he or she is. Fear has no boundaries, nor is it a respecter of person or age. When the panic attack hits, it is so strong that it weakens the person and drains every ounce of his or her strength. Learning to live with this torment is not an easy thing for anyone to do, but hopefully getting an idea of what causes a panic attack will help you to overcome and/or end them altogether.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Identify triggers
• Counseling/Therapy
• Breathing/Physical Exercise
• Eat healhier
• Forgive

1. Identify the triggers. There are many triggers that can cause a person to have an attack of anxiety or fear. Genetics, trauma, abuse and various other things can be a mechanism to trigger a panic attack. For example, a person who has been abused, as I was, can see or hear something that will instantly trigger a memory. At that moment, the person will relive the memory, as though it is happening all over again. This memory will be thing that provokes the panic attack. By discovering the trigger points, the person could help to prevent a panic attack.

2. Talk to a counselor or participate in group therapy. This is one of the ways used to help treat panic attacks. Counselors will help the person by teaching him or her how to unveil and recognize the trigger points that seem to be the cause of the panic attack. Once the trigger is known, the person will begin to learn the steps to avoid them. Sometimes, medication is prescribed to help. But, the main point is to learn to prevent the onset of an anxiety or panic attack.

3. Breathing exercises will help stimulate blood flow throughout the body to the organs, nerves, muscles and blood with oxygen. This will help to give a more sense of calmness. Yoga teaches and demonstrates breathing techniques that will help to relax the body.

4. Daily exercise, like Pilates will give the body the necessary exercise, as it energizes but relaxes it. Take a long walk, play a little hide-n-seek or tag with your child or vacuum.

5. Eat a healthy and balanced diet. Giving your body the nurturing it needs by eliminating unnecessary sugars and other foods that stress it will help to bring a healthy balance to it. When a woman's hormones are not in balance, her whole body will be disgruntled. Eating more fruits and vegetables will help to balance the body the natural way by giving it the necessary vitamins/nutrients and minerals it needs.

6. Forgiveness is very powerful. When I had panic attacks, I learned to forgive and renew my mind by changing the way I would think. This is one of the things that helped me the most. I made myself think about good and positive things and refused to think about the negative and bad memories, while forgiving the ones who were responsible. Doing this took a long time and was not so easy to do. Strong discipline was required but my efforts paid off, because I do not have panic attacks anymore.

[Becca08]

on 12/13/2008 Thank you, WordWhizKid! I have learned to take one day and one step at at time but cannot do either one of those with the Lord by my side!

[WordWhizKid]

on 12/9/2008 Great article and very inspiring, thanks for sharing your tips! That is really admirable that you worked to come so far and eliminate the attacks!