Tips for Managing Panic Attacks

Your panic attacks come out of nowhere and for no reason, and they can bring you to your knees. Not to mention, these episodes of extreme fear and anxiety can create a big disruption in your day and your overall quality of life.

While it won’t solve the issue, it might be of some comfort to know that you’re not alone — up to 11% of Americans experience a panic attack, and about 2.7% of the population in the United States has panic attack disorder.

If you’re battling frequent panic attacks, there are a few ways in which you can minimize their impact on your life and the team here at Michigan Avenue Primary Care wants to review them here. Let’s take a look.

A quick background on panic attacks

Before we dive into management techniques for panic attacks, let’s quickly review some basics about this common mental health issue. 

While panic attacks are classified as an anxiety disorder, they’re different from anxiety attacks. With a panic attack, there’s usually no obvious stressor — they strike out of the blue, and the symptoms come on fast. These symptoms include:

• Difficulty breathing
• Racing or pounding heart
• Chest pain or tightness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Trembling
• Sweating
• Dizziness
• Choking

At the core of all of this is an overwhelming sense of fear as your fight-or-flight response goes into overdrive for a few minutes — most panic attacks last between 5 and 20 minutes.

The symptoms of a panic attack also closely mimic a heart attack, which explains why there are about 1,247,000 anxiety-related emergency visits annually in the US.

Best ways to manage panic attack disorders

If you’re living in fear of panic attacks, here are some great tips that can help take the teeth out of these scary episodes.

Get the right team in your corner

You should start with a visit to our practice if you suffer from regular panic attacks. These episodes can put you into a vicious cycle — the more panic attacks you have, the more anxiety you have about when they’ll strike.

When we sit down with you, we can go over some effective treatments, such as prescription medications that can help regulate your underlying anxiety.

Engage in therapy

We will also likely recommend psychotherapy in the form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). During these sessions, you learn how to recognize an oncoming attack so that you can take steps to prevent it from becoming a full-blown panic attack. CBT can also provide you with tools to better weather a panic attack.

Deep breathing and de-stressing

Since anxiety and stress are what trigger panic attacks, it’s a great practice to destress in general. Some great techniques can quiet your stress response system, such as:

• Deep breathing
• Meditation
• Exercise
• Self-care

Sometimes, de-stressing is as easy as turning off your screens, which are often full of bad news.

Rest assured; we’ll work with you until we find the right combination of approaches to address your panic attacks so that you can enjoy life again.

To schedule your mental health appointment, please contact us at our Chicago, Illinois, clinic, which is located in The Loop. You can also visit our urgent care center during operating hours, M-F, 8 am to 4 pm.