A panic attack feels like a catastrophe while you are living it. Your heart pounds as if it wants to leap out of your chest, the air will not come, you feel dizzy, your hands go numb, and above all you are flooded by the sense that something very bad is happening, that you might be dying or losing control. The first thing it helps to know, and that we want you to hold onto, is this: as terrifying as it is, panic is not dangerous. It is an alarm that went off at the wrong moment.
What really happens in the body
Behind a panic attack lies an ancient mechanism, the fight or flight response. It is the same mechanism that saved our ancestors when a real danger appeared. Within seconds the body prepares to react: adrenaline is released, the heart beats hard to send blood to the muscles, breathing speeds up for more oxygen, the senses sharpen. All of this is extremely useful in the face of real danger. But it becomes useless and frightening when there is no lion in front of you, only a bus, a supermarket or a quiet moment at home.
Why you feel you are in danger
The trouble with panic is that the symptoms themselves frighten you and feed on each other. You feel your heart and think you are having a heart attack. That fear releases more adrenaline, which strengthens the symptoms, which increases the fear. This is how the vicious cycle is built. By understanding this mechanism you already begin to take its power away, because the knowledge itself breaks the loop.
Panic is not dangerous. It is an alarm that went off at the wrong moment.
What you can do in the moment
There are practical things that help, and with practice they become easier. They do not stop panic by magic, but they let it pass faster and with less fear.
- Slow your breathing, with a longer out breath than in breath, so the system can settle.
- Remind yourself that this will pass, that you have lived it before and survived.
- Do not fight the symptoms, let them be present without battling them.
- Ground your body, feel your feet on the floor and name five things around you.
- Stay where you are if you can, rather than rushing away, so your body learns you were safe.
The good news about the long run
Panic peaks and subsides on its own, usually within a few minutes, because the body simply cannot sustain that intensity for long. By learning slow breathing, learning not to fight the symptoms, and recognising your triggers, the attacks become less frequent and far less frightening. In therapy we also look at what feeds the panic underneath, what tension, what avoidance, what dead end is asking for your attention.
You do not have to go through it alone
If panic attacks have started to narrow your life, making you avoid places and situations, you do not have to fight it alone. At thestherapy we are a team of psychologists in Thessaloniki, offering sessions in Greek and in English, in person and online. Panic is learned, and precisely because it is learned, it can also be unlearned.