9 deep questions to ask yourself when you feel panic

  1. What would make me feel safe today? Who do I need to protect myself from?
  2. What part of my life feels threatened by today and why do I think so?
  3. What is a good strategy to use when I feel this way?
  4. What are the differences between feeling anxious and feeling panicked?
  5. What am I worried about? What am I not ready for?
  6. How do I want to respond when this feeling starts happening again?
  7. Do I need to feel this way? What can I do instead of feeling this way?
  8. Did I take my medication today?
  9. Am I going to be a victim or a survivor?

10 tips on how to deal with panic

  1. Talk about panic attacks when you experience them.
  2. Put a name to what you are feeling.
  3. Practice deep breathing or other relaxation techniques during times of high anxiety.
  4. Get rid of the physical symptoms.
  5. Exercise as often as possible, even if you hate it.
  6. Consider therapy for panic disorder.
  7. Challenge your thoughts during a panic attack with logic and evidence to the contrary sensations and feelings during a panic attack with sensations and feelings that are not dangerous or scary.
  8. Break the cycle of guilt after a panic attack.
  9. Accept that panic disorder may never go away.
  10. A special type of technique that can help manage panic is cognitive behavioral therapy, where people learn to identify when a panic attack is coming on, or any other time they feel anxious, and notice the thoughts they are having during those times. From there, people learn how to replace their thoughts with calming ones that are more realistic (e.g., "I can't talk about this now because I don't want to feel embarrassed") or productive (e.g., "I'll do it later when I'm calmer.").

How panic affects you

There are many different types of panic attacks, including a psychogenic attack, an orgasmic panic attack, a hyperventilation attack, and a fearful anticipation panic attack. The most common type of panic attack is the stress induced or stress related panic attack. This occurs due to the release of adrenaline caused by the fight-or-flight response in which it causes an imbalance of chemicals that can result in tremors, rapid heart rate, shortness of breath and chest pains. People commonly feel this way when they have too much to do in a short period of time and they feel like there is no way they can get everything done.