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How to cope with a panic attack | Psyche Guides
Challenge Your Catastrophic Thoughts
Panic attacks can be false alarms in many cases.
The bad thoughts that one may have (“I am about to die!” or “I am going crazy!”) need to be challenged and replaced by rational thoughts like: I am having a stressful, emotional response to a problem, and this will be over in a few minutes.
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Suffering from the fear of heights
People that have acrophobia have an irrational fear of heights. Many symptoms of acrophobia are shared with other anxiety disorders, such as shaking, sweating, a racing heart, diff...
Challenge your beliefs about heights
People with height phobias think something bad will happen when they are up high. But you are safer than you think and your feared outcome about heights won't really happen.
Ask yourself:
- What do you believe will happen when you expose yourself to your fear?
- How likely do you think it is that this would happen?
- What would be the outcome of it happening? (you might believe a tall building will collapse.)
Once you've answered the questions, start small with the thing you fear and see that the worst doesn't actually happen, or that it is not as bad as you feared.
The cause of acrophobia
- A traumatic or frightening event, such as falling off a ladder could cause a fear of heights because the distressing experience gets paired with heights in the person's memories.
- However, many people can't link their fear to a particular experience.
- Some people that fear heights did not have repeated safe exposure to heights.
- Finally, people with height phobia show subtle differences in their ability to maintain their balance, partly because they have more difficulty integrating perceptual information from their visual system.
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Key Ideas
Use Aromatherapy
Whether they’re in oil form, incense, or a candle, scents like lavender, chamomile, and sandalwood can be very soothing.
Aromatherapy is thought to help activate certain receptors in your ...
Go For a Walk Or Do Yoga
Walking away from an anxiety inducing situation can be very effective. Taking some time to focus on your body and not your mind may help relieve your anxiety.
Write Down Your Thoughts
Writing down what’s making you anxious gets it out of your head and can make it less daunting.
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Key Ideas
A panic attack
The current pandemic is affecting the entire globe. As a result, many people may be experiencing panic attacks for the first time.
A panic attack happens suddenly, with short-lived disabl...
The body's response
A perceived threat may activate the body's physiological "fight or flight" response, similar to what your body would do if you're near a tiger. Your heart starts racing and pumping blood, so your muscles have the fuel to run or fight.
Panic attacks are relatively common. One in four Americans will have at least one panic attack in their lives. But the pandemic seems to be causing many people to suffer panic attacks within a short time.
Panic attack symptoms
The tightening of the chest and breathing difficulties are often confused for symptoms of the new virus.
Panic attacks come on suddenly and typically last only 15 to 20 minutes, while symptoms of the virus emerge over a few days. With the virus, you will also have other symptoms, like a fever and a cough.