Panic attacks are actually quite harmless, despite how intense and frightening they can be. They are nothing more than the body’s way of dumping excess adrenaline, cortisol, etc. that’s been released during the fight-or-flight response.
Ordinarily, anxiety comes and goes naturally, but sometimes it escalates – usually because we focus on it and feed it with fear and worry, or because of prolonged exposure to a highly stressful situation. In these cases, a panic attack can occur.
These stress hormones are released to enable the body to take action to evade a serious threat, if no action is taken they don’t get used up. For example, running away would use up adrenaline.
Since the mind doesn’t know the difference between what’s real and what we imagine, if we’re ruminating over something or catastrophising about something this will feed the stress response in the same way someone running at you with a knife might do.
When I had panic attacks I often went over and over them in my head afterwards, not realising that I was actually triggering further attacks.
The mind is powerful, learn to control how you respond to your thoughts and you’ll get anxiety under control.
It’s worth noting here that if you have experienced a panic attack, in fact even if you have had severe anxiety for any length of time, you have experienced the very worst your nervous system can throw at you. There is a limit to the number of, and the severity of, the symptoms your nervous system can produce. You will not die, and you will not go mad, no matter how likely both of those things seem at the time.
If it’s Not True, it’s a Lie
When you’re in the throes of an anxiety episode or a panic attack, your mind is busy creating the worst possible outcomes to every imaginable scenario, and then convincing you that’s what’s going to happen. Sounds funny to someone who hasn’t experienced it, but as you and I know all too well, it feels like you’re losing your mind.
The general rule to be applied here is, quite simply, that unless you can absolutely prove something is true, then it’s a lie. Your amygdala is lying to you.
It’s not easy to remember this in the middle of an episode, but with practice you’ll learn to start questioning what your internal voice is telling you. As you start challenging it, your resistance and panic are replaced by a more calm, reasoned thought process and the panic or anxiety will dissipate. Like all the techniques, this takes practice, but it works.
Try it, and remember to record your progress in your journal.