Dealing with panic attacks can be imperative to helping you live a normal life. You may already know what they are, dreading them when they hit you, but you can learn how to stop them from interrupting your daily activities.  You are not alone,  so let’s tackle this together!

The number one cause of anxiety attacks lies at the feet of stress. Some of the stress can be external but a lot of it is internal anguish. External stress that causes an attack can be things like getting held up at work when you know you have to be somewhere else or running into an ex with his or her new relationship in tow.

Internal stress is the mental dialogue we have silently within ourselves. What happens is we start thinking about all the negative or frightening stuff that goes on in the world, or in our lives. and we begin to project what “could” happen.

We could get kidnapped. Someone could break into the home while we’re out. Our children or other family member could get hurt in some way or develop a life and death illness.

None of the things have taken place, but we react as if it has and our bodies send out signals that increase the heart rate and the breathing, tighten up the muscles and releases adrenaline into the system.

When you’re in the middle of having an attack, it’s not the time to try to learn about dealing with panic attacks. You need to be armed beforehand so that you can know how to fight back and stop it before it blooms out of control.  You must be pro-active in dealing with this anxiety!

The first step you can take is avoidance. Don’t allow your focus to stay on the stress or the ‘what if’ scenarios. Instead, fix your focus on something that consumes your mind and keeps you active. If you like to sew, start sewing. If you like to play basketball, call some friends for an impromptu game.

Even though panic attacks, or anxiety attacks can be extremely intense, understand that the battle with anxiety isn’t physically dangerous. This battle is fought in the mind. Don’t let your thoughts run wild . Rope them in. When you think of a worse case scenario such as, “Oh no! He must have had an accident,” change that to a positive scenario, such as, “Someone probably stopped to chat with him, or her before they could leave.”

Processing what’s really happening is important in dealing with panic attacks. Whether you’ve had one or have experienced numerous attacks, stay focused on the belief that you’re okay, you’re safe, and nothing bad is really happening at that moment. What’s happening is that the fear has hit you and it’s scary but you can beat it.