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How to Prevent an Anxiety Attack

Most people will go through an anxiety attack at least once in their lifetime. This is a response brought on by a high degree of stress. Overly apprehensive behavior such as constant worry or fear of the future can trigger an anxiety attack. It can also be a result of the involuntary actions of your body when you’re extremely stressed out.

Some individuals are more prone to anxiety than others and suffer from these attacks more often. When they become recurrent and start to interfere with your daily life, it is referred to as panic disorder. Approximately 3 percent of the general population suffer from this condition. Here are a few ways to avoid or deal with an anxiety attack.

Recognize That You’re Experiencing Anxiety

When you start to feel an attack coming on, it is necessary to recognize what it is.  By identifying that you’re experiencing a panic attack, you can reassure yourself that it is only temporary. Tell yourself that it will pass soon, and you’ll be fine. Get over the fear that you may be having a heart attack or dying. These are symptoms of panic attacks and are responsible for making them worse. The best way to deal with your symptoms is to focus on other techniques.

Calm Yourself Down

There are some useful ways to calm yourself down that will help you gain control of your anxiety. Calming yourself down ends the stress response by cutting off the mechanism that causes anxiety attacks. Your body can then expel the remaining stress hormones.

While it can feel like a lot longer, the psychological, emotional and physical changes that are the result of a stress response typically last for no longer than ten minutes. The sooner you’re able to calm yourself down, the faster the anxiety attack will come to an end. Learn to find a way to stay relaxed till your body recovers from the state of stress that it is in.

A great way to do this is to focus on your breath. Inhale for four seconds, hold the inhale for another four seconds, and then exhale for four seconds. It’s never easy to get rid of an attack, but focusing on your breath can help.

Visualize Your Happy Place

When you feel a panic attack coming on, transport yourself to the most relaxing place you can think of. This could be a grassy meadow, a cabin in the woods, or a tranquil beach. If you’re finding this difficult, try to focus on as many details as you can. Think about the sound of a gently gurgling stream, the scent of a pine forest or the feeling of digging your toes into warm sand. Visualizing yourself in a quiet and relaxing place is a great calming technique to deal with an anxiety attack.

If it helps, put in headphones and listen to calming sounds. Do this while focusing on your breath and grounding yourself. The more control you learn to develop over your body while you are experiencing panic disorder, the easier it will become for you to help overcome the attacks in the long run.

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