Constant anxiety and panic attacks can be very detrimental to your mental and physical health. If anxiety and panic attacks are leaving you entirely hopeless and tamper with your efficiency in doing day to day tasks, here are some ways to cope with them.
Bust your negative attitude
It is always the negative emotions that flare up and cause panic attacks and bouts of anxiety in a person. If you are prone to ponder over negative thoughts and incidents in your life, you must devise ways to stay away from such thoughts and prevent your mind from getting affected by it. Try to practice positive affirmations when you get a panic attack. Speak aloud in positive tones. Thus, if you have a chest pain due to a panic attack, reassure yourself and talk aloud saying that it is just the anxiety that is causing the pain and that you are not in for a heart attack. Continue assuring yourself that you are ok and ensure that you practice deep breathing to regulate your breathing as well. You will slowly be able to regain your lost ground and stop panicking with these simple techniques.
Exercise can help
Exercising 30-60 minutes a day releases serotonins into the body, making you feel good and healthy. It also prevents you from getting anxious over every little thing in your life. Ensure that you exercise at least 5 days a week to keep the serotonin levels in your body high. Go for cardiovascular exercises like walking, cycling, jogging, swimming, etc. which will have all round benefit for your body and mind. When you start exercising, remember to take it slow as over exercise can actually give the opposite result of what you desire. Over exercising also increases the adrenaline levels in the body. Start with a 15 min exercise regime and slowly build it up to 60 minutes. This will help in burning off the excess adrenalin in the body and help you remain calm and cool during adversities and stress.
Share your fears
It does not help in any way if you try to keep all your sadness and anxieties to yourself. This will put a heavier burden on your mind and heart and make you more prone to panic attacks. Find a friend or relative with whom you can share your worries, anxieties and fears so that you are not weighed down by extreme stress. He/she will be able to console you or support you through the anxiety and suggest ways by which you can relieve tension as well. This will be a great help for you in the long run. Make sure that you keep your trusted friends and relatives in the loop if you are prone to panic or anxiety attacks. When you feel that you are getting too anxious and get a panic attack anytime, immediately seek help by calling your friend or relative to change your attention and if possible, asking them to come over. Having someone to share your fears can be a huge relief.
Medications
Sometimes panic attacks need to be treated with medications. For people who experience anxiety very frequently, medications are necessary to control the symptoms. Check with a psychiatrist as to how the symptoms can be controlled. Anti anxiety medications, anti depressants, sedatives etc. can be used with proper guidance from the doctor. It is important not to use these medications on a regular basis as they could have side effects and can be addictive as well. Never try to take medications more than what is recommended for you.
Seek counselling
Seeking counselling too is important if you are constantly troubled by anxiety and panic attacks. If you find the anxiety symptoms way too often that you are unable to deal with it, talk to a counselor and seek his guidance. Your counselor might offer advice and also suggest therapy sessions. Meditation, yoga and deep breathing exercises too could be part of the counselling and therapy sessions. Though counselling could take a lot of your valuable time, it is very necessary to treat and control anxiety and panic attacks. With time, the anxiety and panic attacks can be brought under control and the person can be made to prevent such attacks in future by following the advice of the counselor regularly.
