How to Overcome Panic Attacks
Which Type of Panic Attack Are You Having?
The best strategy for how to overcome panic attacks depends on what is causing your panic attacks. People with panic attacks fall into two categories.
People who are most upset by the panic attack itself, and mainly terrified of having another one. If this is you, read on.
People who are more worried about something else, and the panic attacks aren’t your main concern. For example, if you struggle with social anxiety, you might be worrying that you made a fool of yourself earlier, which could lead to a full blown panic attack. While you might find the panic attack to be super uncomfortable, the possibility of making a fool yourself is actually more terrifying for you than the panic attack itself. If this is you, your best bet at overcoming panic attacks is actually treating the underlying anxiety issue.
If you’re not sure which one best describes what you’re experiencing, check out our panic attack test.
How to Overcome Panic Attacks When PANIC Is What You’re Afraid Of
The good news is: anxiety about having panic attacks, often referred to as panic disorder, is extremely treatable. CBT Therapy can help you learn how to overcome panic attacks. Most people who complete CBT for Panic Disorder experience a significant reduction in the frequency of panic attacks or no longer have them at all.
There are three key elements to panic attack treatment associated with Panic Disorder.
1. Take the mystery out of a panic attack.
Learning how panic attacks work can give you the language you need to be able to talk to yourself in a more helpful way that makes you less likely to panic. Step one for mastering how to overcome panic attacks is being able to explain to yourself exactly what is happening in your body and why because I guarantee you the reality is a lot less exciting (and less scary) than the story your mind comes up with when you’re in the middle of a panic attack.
2. Exposure therapy to reduce panic about normal bodily changes.
A critical step in learning how to overcome panic attacks often involves completing a type of treatment known as interoceptive exposure therapy. This involves using physical activities to trigger changes in your body on purpose. It includes things like running in place to raise your heart rate or spinning in a chair to make yourself dizzy. Exposure therapy helps you to overcome panic attacks by using direct experience to teach your body some very important facts:
Just because something feels scary, does not mean it’s actually dangerous, just uncomfortable.
You can have thoughts of something horrible happening - even when nothing is going to happen. Thoughts are not facts, they are a reflection of your emotional state.
Your body will naturally stabilize itself and the sensation will pass - you don’t need to do anything to get it to stop. In fact, building trust in this is a big element of panic attack treatment.
The amount of attention you put on the scary sensations in your body, has everything to do with how intense it feels and becomes.
Your body can handle it, and so can you.
This process may sound terrifying, but exposure therapy never involves doing something truly dangerous, and your therapist will usually offer to do the exercise with you in order to demonstrate just how it’s done. Research has also shown this technique to be extremely effective in reducing symptoms.
3. Give up avoidance and safety behaviors.
When trying to figure out how to overcome panic attacks most people believe the key is to avoid things that trigger you. In reality, the opposite is true.
Avoiding things is actually one of the worst things you can do and is likely to make your panic worse over time. Most people with panic disorder develop the same coping strategies to avoid triggers by avoiding things like driving, going into stores, and exercising.
If you want to overcome your panic attacks, you’ll need to start fighting back in the other direction - SLOWLY. This starts with taking baby steps to reclaim parts of life you’ve been avoiding.
We can help.
If you or someone you love is struggling with panic attacks, please reach out. We offer panic attack treatment with CBT Therapists in Orlando and online throughout the state of Florida. Call today or send us your info and we’ll reach out for a free consultation to see if one of our therapists would be a good fit.
