When you’re experiencing anxiety and panic attacks on a regular basis, one of the most important things you can do is practice self-awareness. Being aware of the sensations and feelings you are experiencing can make anxiety and panic attacks that much more manageable, and you’ll be able to find ways to cope with the distressing feelings and experience once you acknowledge them.
The physical and mental manifestations of anxiety can take their toll on your body and mind, and can be very unsettling when they appear out of the blue. Some of the sensations can be addressed with medication, but there are healthy, drug-free approaches that can help you get better and enjoy a better quality of life. I talk more about healthy ways to handle anxiety attacks in my book, Panic Away.
For now, let’s take a look at some of the common anxiety attack symptoms.
Among the most prevalent symptoms and signs of an oncoming anxiety attack is a shortness of breath, or a tight sensation in the chest area. Other symptoms and signs of an anxiety attack include heart palpitations, sweating, feelings of choking, and feelings of unreality or being detached from yourself.
Many people also feel numbness or a tingling sensation in their extremities. Others have an intense fear of losing control or going crazy. Feeling dizzy, lightheaded or faint are also common side effects of an oncoming anxiety or panic attack.
Whatever the case may be, you can work on desensitizing yourself from these uncomfortable experiences, and eventually stop worrying about them altogether.
One of the best ways to deal with the feelings of being out of control, or managing those nerves when under stress or pressure, is acceptance. Acceptance immediately lowers your anxiety and places you back in your natural flow. What we accept goes through a transformation and in this case the anxious bodily sensations are not allowed to escalate into a full blown panic attack.
You don’t have to fear anxiety attack symptoms and those uncomfortable sensations forever. There are several ways to overcome frequent anxiety and panic attacks, and look forward to a healthier life ahead.
John
Hi
I look forward to hearing from you again regards anxiety and panic attacks. What I have read so far describes exactly my situation. I will try to focus on other things and be more positive.
Many thanks
John
Lorna Crouch
I suffer with bad anxiety and panick attacks and just dont know what to do sometimes or which way to turn,I feel that people around me just don’t understand what it is like and you can’t really explain exactly how you do feel.my heart feels that it is racing all i need is for someone to understand what it is like when i am like it I am afraid of being alone and that something terrible is going to happen to me.I have tried all the deep breathing exercises and telling myself that it is going to be ok and try to focus on other things but never really seems to go away some days i have it all day long. Thanking you for finding the time to mail me.Lorna
Maureen Bain
I to suffer from anxiety attacks, and panic attacks, its the most frightening thing on the planet,I just want it to stop, I pray for it to stop, I was on medication for thirteen years, I was told at the time I was suffering from severe clinical deperession, all those goof pills robbed me of my forties, I was like a zombie, by chance I saw a differant physicologist, who took me off all the pills, my life was transformed, the things I achieved in the first year was amazing, i was back to work, and enjoying it I felt so much better, and looked it,that was just over four years ago. This year has been awful, I’ve found I’m just not able to cope with things the same, a lot has happened in general with family ect. then my best friend died very suddenly in august, which I think was the trigger to these awful panick attacks, I’ve been seeing an amazing cognative therapist, who has helped me a lot, I feel so strong after seeing him, sometimes I can get a week where I’m really good, then like you say, “I check in ” and say I’ve been ok for a week somethimgs bound to happen, then I’m back to square one, I downloaded your mini seris, its became like my bible, which I thank you from the bottom of my heart for, I look forword to hearing from you
harry
i have been following the program for about a week now and i am starting to see the benefits. but i still wake up with the fear of losing control and going nuts. the full blown panic attacks have stopped but i still feel like the anxiety is driving me nuts. i constantly think that for some reason im going to lose it and hurt my family. this is so disturbing for me because i am not a violant person and would never do such a thing, but the fear and anxiety just makes me think of that all the time. what is the best way to handle this situation? i just feel alone with this and need some encouragement that i am in fact not crazy….
renuka
very goo stuff that u have given me the chance to read n unerstand all about panic attacks.regards renuka
Lauren
Hi
I agree that excitement and anxiety are the same state however physiologically excitement does not increase blood pressure or the pulse rate to the extent that panic does. The two are too extreme opposites perhaps finding a medium between the two could lessen the pressure of trying to be excited about something that terrifies you.
aaofa
on a bad day i suffer every single symptom u have listed….however wen i feel a sensation dat triggers an attack il tell myself stop bein silly its only blah blah and im not goin to die.luckily my fiancee was a sufferer so i dont have to hide it from him altho sometimes i do wen iv had a good few weeks n he tinks tings are getn better for me.2nite i did explain i stil get bad ones n he has said he will help me tru dem jst to let him kno
Alain
Hi, Barry
I understand the concept of turning anxiey into excitement, being excited to see what the next physical development was going to be when a panick attack starts, instead of trying to stop each physical development from going further.
It’s nice reverse pshycology. It does work.
To illustrate how reverse phsycology works, may I ask a question?
What is the best way to remember to do something?
Don’t we all forget to do things sometimes?
Why?
Because we tell ourselves “I MUST TRY NOT TO FORGET to do this”.
What happens?
We often forget it ! Ha ha!
The reverse phsycology is better!
I literally tell myself “I ‘VE GOT TO FORGET to do it!
And guess what? I always remember to do it !!!!!
Therefore, in the case of anxiety, I am glad that you present your point, turn fear of an attack into excitement.
Indeed, fighting off the first symptoms of a panic aggravates the following ones and it becomes an attack. In my case, my chest muscles freeze up and I experience pain in the chest, feering another angina or another heart attack.
On the other hand, by welcoming the first symptoms (No worries! What’s next?), the first symptoms are just passing through and they stop. It was nothing after all!
That happened to me a few days ago. While walking when shopping, I felt the first symptoms, so I paused, then walked on a bit more, then paused again, then walked again and then I thought to myself “Bugger this!”, paused again, leaned on a veranda, saw some birds and just watched them. I was also curious to see what else was going to happen to me.
And, lo and behold, the first symptoms disappeared and I was as if nothing had happened! I continued walking to the train station!
So, Barry, what you suggest, turn fear into excitement, really works!
Thanks mate.
Tatiana Tzarkova
I’ve read comments of people suffering the same symptoms as I do. the only thing is they don’t say anything about high blood pressure. Does anxiety and panic attacks cause high blood pressure too or it is something else that I get?
I would like to continue receiving messages from Barry with advices. I hope to be helped and to free myself from panic attacks and high blood pressure.
Jennifer Walls
My brother in law wants to send me, his wife (my sister) and my mother to New York. We will have to fly in an airplane. I do not have the fear of flying as much as the fear of getting into the “enclosed” small room with too many people who are stealing my air, thousands of feet in the air trapped for a long time unable to escape!!! This I know in my mind will trigger a horriflying PA. My sister and mother are aware of my PAs and very supportive, but the thoughts of being in that airplane makes me want to decline the offer. What can I do prepare myself for this without having a PA all the way to NY!!!! I really want to go and I haven’t had PAs for months but climbing in the plane seems to be more than I can handle!! Thank you, Jennifer
KEVIN
hi, i have lived with panic attacks since i was 12 years old i am 37 now. i’ve now realized that i have been the main cause working my self up. i just lost my mother three months ago and that started to control me again.but these programs really put things in lamen turms so you can regain focas. i really appreciate all the literature on you really make a differencew in peoples lives. thank you again.
Susie
Hi, I love to read all about everyones panic attacks, because it really makes me feel better to know Im not in this alone, my sister and my aunt also suffer from these attacks and we talk to each other and it helps too. In the last year I have learned to deal with them much better than in the past, I started reading news letters from Barry, and they have helped me, For me, there are a few things I think of when I feel an attack comming on. 1. No one has ever died from a panic attack. 2. Over all the years that I have been
having these attacks, they have always gone away and they always feel the same, so I know they will go
away, and I keep telling myself that, This works good for me, maybe someone else can use these 2 tricks that I have learned
Carolyn
So great to have this support online I read the posts and can completely understand all the feelings, symptoms and struggles with anxiety and panic attacks it is a daily battle. For me the secret was accepting sadness,fear,anxiety and all the feelings that cause discomfort are apart of life and apart of me and to allow those feelings to just be, to come and go when desired and welcome all of them no matter how uncomfortable they feel. To ask for those feelings of discomfort to intensify and come and go when they please then makes those feelings powerless and disappear as your allowing yourself to feel them and not fight them. Who says we shouldn’t feel these emotions and who says they are bad? They are all apart of life and we should make room for them in our lives. Once you’ve accepted them and no longer fear them and associate them as ‘bad’ you’ve made peace with yourself 🙂
danman555
thanks for everyones tips an help,i thought i was alone,im jus learnin how to deal with this monster