How to Recognize and Control Panic Attacks: A Step-by-Step Guide

Once a person understands the symptoms of a panic attack, the next step is to recognize the onset of an attack immediately and then engage in actions that reduce sensitivity to these symptoms. It’s also important to expose oneself to the physical sensations experienced during an attack- gradually becoming used to them so they feel less threatening over time.

As mentioned, one must become familiar with panic attacks, focus on the physical symptoms in the body, and understand that these symptoms are what create the intense fear and feeling of losing control.

A person suffering from anxiety tends to be overly sensitive and hyper-aware of physical sensations. Every time one begins to feel something physical, they may immediately spiral into anxiety or panic. This heightened sensitivity causes them to focus excessively on their feelings, leaving little room to focus on anything else, ultimately amplifying the anxiety repetitively so that it becomes a draining cycle. If a person is fixated only on their sensations, the moment they feel shortness of breath or a racing heartbeat, they panic and begin scanning for more symptoms of anxiety or a heart attack. The same can happen even with something as minor as dizziness that can be quickly magnified by the anxiety and interpreted as a serious threat.

Panic can start with a specific trigger, like driving on the highway or going up in an elevator, but it can also arise from something as simple as dizziness from lack of sleep or general fatigue, which the brain misinterprets as danger. The individual may then feel like the panic will never end, and the sensations and interpretations feed off each other, causing the cycle to intensify.

The key to breaking this cycle is changing the way the person interprets their stress symptoms. Once someone learns to recognize their physical sensations and understands they’re not actually dangerous, they are on the road to recovery.

From there, the person can begin working on the feelings themselves and learn to manage them, realizing there is a sensation, but the assumption about it is inaccurate. Gradually, they'll become more aware that they have responsibility and agency, and that what they’re experiencing is indeed within their control.

If someone keeps repeating to themselves, “I’m falling apart,” it becomes fixed in their thinking. In actual fact, a panic attack doesn't last more than a few minutes. If we maintain control over our emotions and thoughts, less adrenaline will be released, and the stress will subside.

If you stop feeding the thoughts that fuel your anxiety, and stop scaring yourself, the panic will last only a few mintues, and then disappear.

Anat Doron is a psychotherapist and therapist.