Even in the face of an immediate danger, the kind of fear that best serves to ensure the survival and well-being of the endangered is not panic. Panic is a dysfunctional, out-of-control sort of fear. Panic is something one wants to take off and throw away, so to speak. If panic is a recurring problem, some call it a disorder.
A treatment plan for a panic disorder assumes as here that a panic disorder has correctly been diagnosed, though if that is not the case, a diagnosis is in order. For one thing, a panic disorder may accompany other issues that need to be addressed, such as agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is shown typically when one is so bound by fear that one avoids shopping or going outside one’s home or something similar.
In other words, a treatment plan ideally should address case-specific problems and underlying causes. Nevertheless, some principles and practices exist which are broadly applicable. At this point, temporary symptom relief through prescription drugs or herbal or homeopathic remedies may come to mind. Indeed, drugs and herbs are sometimes used long term for sufferers of panic. But a treatment plan ideally focuses on eventually shedding temporary fixes and mere symptom relief. Drugs can have their unpleasant side effects. Replacing symptom relief with treating the causes of panic is a preferred long term solution, and one closer to what may be called a “plan.”
But to follow such a plan requires motive and discipline. There are panic disorder sufferers who prefer their present condition, for example, to the consequences of restoration to a peaceful and balanced emotional state. Or they lack sufficient motivation. And even for those with some motivation and discipline, some helpful steps may be difficult. It may be easier to fall into a hole than to climb out.
But climbing out is possible. Given sufficient motive and discipline, a panic disorder or panic attack sufferer may incorporate the following more generally applicable principles and practices into a treatment plan. These may be used in conjunction with professional help too.
I. Deep Breathing Exercises
Hyperventilation is common among panic attack sufferers and it contributes to bodily sensations we associate with panic. Deep, abdominal breathing cuts the contribution to fear symptoms from hyperventilation and serves to calm the brain.
Daily practice of deep, slow abdominal breathing over a period of several weeks is preferred in order to make the practice second nature. This makes it easier to practice well at the onset of a panic attack or when experiencing heightened anxiety.
Set apart two to four regular times during the day to practice deep and slow breathing for several minutes each session. When the practice is sustained for several weeks, it often comprises one of the most helpful exercises for panic attacks, although it seems simple.
II. Rethinking the irrational
Panic sufferers can be driven by irrational fears about their own bodily symptoms and/or by irrational fears from a difficult past. Recognizing what those irrational fears are will recruit the conscious mind in the fight to recapture runaway fears. Younger children may especially need help in distinguishing irrational thoughts.
III. Keeping a journal
A journal of panic and emotional difficulty is not meant to be used to rehearse fears and failures. That would be self-defeating. But writing in a journal is a way to discipline and organize thoughts. And the practice can contribute to catharsis. This can be used to expose and identify one’s own unbalanced thinking and over time provide a basis for longer term goals.
A journal can help us identify what we fear: loss, threat, separation from a loved one or happy environment, shame, what we were taught to fear as young children, and so on. Each cause can then be more clearly addressed.
Over time, a journal can show encouraging progress.
IV. Repeating victory, de-emphasizing defeat
Retraining your sub-conscious mind takes time and effort. Recognizing and rehearsing successes strengthens the pathways in the brain that tell the subconscious mind to keep calm. This may come in the form of a trip to the store or facing some idea or a victory over any condition in which one feels anxious for no reasonable cause. At the same time, suppressing rehearsal of negative thoughts lessens the synapse pathways tied to fear.
Writing and repeating “I can” and “I feel fine” kinds of affirmations helps train the subconscious. Avoid “I don’t feel afraid,” “I did not panic” and negative expressions of victory since the subconscious mind may overlook the negative (“not”) and thus affirm the fear.
V. Regular Exercise
Regular exercise helps elevate mood, to say nothing of reducing stresses that a sedentary life brings to bear. Making exercise regular also takes motivation and discipline. Plan times during the week for exercise (and consult your doctor).
VI. Make the decisions that need to be made.
Our panic can be based in part on fear associated with one or more decisions that need to be made. Progress in overcoming panic attacks may need to take place first, but often relief from stress occurs after the difficult, but necessary decision is made and appropriate action taken.
Or one may need to make a decision that may not cause anxiety, perhaps like switching medications to one that does not contribute to your feeling anxious, or stopping the consumption of alcohol, sugar, or a food to which one has a sensitivity or allergy.