How to Deal with Intense Anxiety Attacks

How+to+Deal+with+Intense+Anxiety+Attacks

Tyler Albrecht, Reporter

As someone who has been diagnosed with general anxiety disorder and has had my fair share of anxious moments, I know how terrifying it feels to have anxiety attacks. It can be hard to cope during times like that but, it is possible. I have compiled various tips to help dilute these scary moments.
First off, find out what triggers your anxiety attacks. Is it school or work? Perhaps your family or friends? Is it small things like loud noises or lights? Acknowledging these things can definitely help a lot because you can learn what things you should avoid. Of course, there are some things you just can’t avoid. In those situations, observe why the thing makes you so anxious. For instance, school can be a massive source of anxiety whether it’s because of the work, fellow students, how long it is, etc. Look into exactly what things about school make you anxious and figure out how to fix the issue.
Second, find ways to let your anxiety out in a healthy way. Keeping all of these feelings contained can damage your mental health and even your physical health. Good things that can help are stimming, writing down how you feel, drawing out how you feel, ranting to a person you trust, learning to breathe properly, and even things not so nice like crying or yelling into a pillow. The most important part when it comes to letting anxiety out is keeping your body moving in some way. Having anxiety attacks can make you very jumpy and you must let all that energy out.
Third, find out how to help lessen your anxiety attacks in the long run. This can include many things like getting enough sleep, staying hydrated and full, eliminating stimulants from your diet, eliminating fatty foods from your diet, and in generally staying physically healthy. You may have heard these things before and it may be hard but it’s very important to do these things. For example, having less sleep can make you more irritated throughout the day and small things can and will trigger anxiety so it’s good to get the right amount of sleep to keep this from happening. Reducing anxiety relies on these things tremendously.
Finally, learn that the best way to ride out an anxiety attack is not to resist it but to accept it. You want to work with your anxiety not against it. The more you resist the more your panic will increase. Remind yourself that although you feel terrible and afraid, you’re not in any danger. As stated on the site anxietycoach.com, “If someone points a gun at me, I have to do whatever I can to change that: run, hide, fight, yell, bribe, or beg, because the consequence of being shot is so terrible that I must try to avoid it. On the other hand – a policeman giving me a ticket, even if I don’t deserve it, I can live with that, and can hopefully keep my temper in check so I don’t make things worse for myself.”
Hopefully learning these tips will prevent future anxiety attacks and keep you calm. You can find other helpful tips on sites like these:

http://psychcentral.com/lib/tips-to-cope-with-a-panic-attack/ http://www.anxietycoach.com/overcoming-panic-attacks.html

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/Pages/coping-with-panic-attacks.aspx

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290177.php