What are Panic Attacks and what can you do about them?

Written by Emily Celis, MS, LMFT

Panic Attacks. They are scary. If you have experienced one, you probably feel like you have lived through dying. 

How do you know if you’re having a panic attack and what can you do about it?

Symptoms of a Panic Attack:

Racing heart /chest pains

Feeling weak, dizzy or faint / difficulty breathing

Tingling or numbness in your hands and fingers

Sense of terror or of impending doom

The tricky thing with Panic Attacks is that it can feel like they can come out of nowhere, however, the more AWARENESS you can bring to your feelings of stress and anxiety when it is happening at a lower level, the more control you will begin to have with what you can do to manage that anxiety.

When to seek help? If you are having frequent panic attacks or if you are having panic attacks at all and would like support, therapy would be a great place to begin.

What can you do to manage these symptoms:

Breathe slowly and deeply when you notice the anxiety rising.

If you feel a panic attack coming on, take time out from everything and give yourself the kindness and compassion you deserve to get through this really hard thing.

Ground yourself. This is an excellent way to help everything stop spinning so fast. If you?re not sure how, google, grounding techniques and you will have many resources at your fingertips.