How to stop a Panic Attack

It’s literally a hurricane of emotion, swirling and swelling its way into a tumultuous attack on your body. Not only do you feel crippled, you’re not sure if you are going to make it out alive. Everything feels so heavily dramatic, it’s almost as if you are in the final episode of friends, and even worse—you can’t find your sandwich. You clench your chest in agony as you gasp for breaths, wondering if you are having a heart attack or not. (While you’re at it) Could you stop clenching your chest like that? It’s making me nervous, err, now you did it, now I’m having one too.

Don’t worry, I’m kidding. Lions can’t get panic attacks. But, I suppose we cannot type either, so I’m breaking all kinds of stereotypes here. During my time as a human, I became accustomed to your feelings and dealt with many a panic attack, so just take a deep breath and read on. The Lion won’t sleep tonight.

In the jungle……

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Believe that you can stop it

If you believe that a panic attack is infallible and unstoppable, then you won’t stop it, but if you believe that you can topple the beast, then, you will, because you are strong! I know you are, because I have seen your gall and might first hand. Ok, maybe I haven’t but, I’m sure you’re a tough bastard, or goddess. What’s the female version of bastard?

It feels like a storm hell-bent on destruction, an elemental entity…..I know it feels that way, but right now the way you feel, isn’t actually real. I don’t know how many times that I fed into my own self destruction, how much I let the machine churn with my fear of the uncertain.

You need to let go of your conscious self, and act on instinct. Don’t let it go any further, gain a foothold and push it back. Your eyes might deceive you from the truth, so do not trust them. Do not let your emotions control your actions, calm your mind, breathe and regain control. Use the force Luke.

The power of your words

Your words have power and magic lathed within them. Each syllable, each letter can cast about a change in the way you feel, the way you think, and can summon your wit and courage at a moment’s notice. Pay attention to your thoughts, and fight them with positive words. Go ahead, give it a try.

“I can do this. I am awesome, I will accept this burden with all that I am. I am Voltron, destroyer of evil and purveyor of justice. I come back to you now, at the turn of the tide, so that we may go to infinity and beyond, to boldly go where no man has gone before, because I feel the need—the need for speed!! I have brought peace, freedom, justice and security to my new empire, because I am King of the world. So go ahead and make my day.” – Batman

Breathe, just breathe

Take deep, penetrating breaths. Slowly breathe in, (all the way in now!) and then, just let it go like Elsa. A lot of times I would envision the panic being breathed out as I exhale, that little by little it was going away.

Breathing techniques can be integral to your overall success as it can slow everything down, including your heart beat. So the next time you feel like you’re in panic mode and you need to do a factory reset into default settings, take a few long deep breaths, hold it in for five seconds, and then exhale like the wolf blowing those piggy’s houses down.

Do something that is all-encompassing

Before, when my paws were fingers, I would play the guitar when a panic attack struck. Having to concentrate on something that requires all of your attention helps get your mind off of the feeling of panic and will allow you to regain a bit of control.

Knowing that a panic attack cannot kill you

You cannot die from a panic attack. Let me repeat this, you cannot die from a panic attack and you damn sure are not dying tonight.

We have all felt this way, in fact what drove a lot of my panic attacks was the feeling that I was having a heart attack and the potential death that it could give me. I don’t know how many doctors I had to go to before I realized I didn’t have a heart disease. Let me save you some money, you are healthy.

Disclaimer: I am not a physician, therefore if you are actually unhealthy please go to a doctor.

Don’t let a panic attack happen in the first place.

Panic attacks are very much like hurricanes, they take time to happen and normally a trigger event causes the panic attack to happen. However, if you do some of the things I mentioned above, it doesn’t have to happen. By internalizing the fact that a panic attack cannot kill you, by doing things like exercise and changing your mindset, you can actually render a panic attack as useless as your degree. The big wigs call it cognitive behaviour therapy, I just call it a better way of life. I believe in you, now you just need to believe in yourself.

Oh, and panic attack…just in case you don’t understand, we are not on a break!!!!!