Tools for coping with panic symptoms…

GOLDEN RULES FOR COPING WITH PANIC SYMPTOMS

1. Keep things in perspective. Remember that although your feelings and your symptoms may be intense, they are neither dangerous nor harmful. What you are feeling is an exaggeration of your body’s normal reaction to stress.
2. Face your fears. Do not fight your feelings or try to wish them away. The more you are willing to face them, the less intense they will become. Notice that when you stop thinking scary thoughts, your anxiety begins to fade.
3. Change your state of mind. When you find yourself thinking about your fears, change your “what if” thinking to “what is” thinking. Focus on the present and perform some simple task.
4. Think positively. Don’t add to your panic by thinking about what “might happen.” If you find yourself asking “What if?” tell yourself “So what!”
5. Stay in the present. Be aware of what is happening to you rather than worrying about how much worse it might get in the future.
6. Observe your symptoms. Label your fear level from 0 to 10 and watch it go up and down. Notice that it doesn’t stay at a very high level for more than a few seconds.
7. Accept your fears- don’t fight them. Wait and give them time to pass. Don’t try to escape from it.
8. Be proud of the progress you’ve made. Think about how good you will feel when the anxiety has passed and you are in control and at peace.

WHAT HELPS?

1. Exercise. Yoga is great because it incorporates deep breathing and muscle strengthening. Aerobic exercise energizes and alleviates feelings of sluggishness. Strengthening exercises such as sit-ups, push-ups and squats can be done in front of the television. You could also try gardening, which is a meditative and a productive form of exercise.
2. Write in a journal. Describe the emotions and the symptoms you are feeling. Notice how a high state of anxiety will be followed by a low, followed by a high and finally followed by a low. Watch the cyclical nature of your feelings.
3. Deep breathing. Take a number of deep breaths about every half hour. Breathing does a body good: It allows your body to function and it is relaxing, too.
4. Allow yourself to make mistakes. Perfection is an unrealistic expectation. To err, really is to be human. Try to focus on the lessons you have learned from those mistakes.
5. Remember that panic attacks always end. You are bigger and stronger than your feelings of anxiety. You can make it.

CAN EXERCISE REDUCE STRESS?

· Exercise reduces muscle tension. It uses up the energy released by our body’s physical responses to stress - the “fight or flight” response.
· Aerobic exercise causes production of endorphins, which produce feelings of happiness and relaxation.
· Exercise improves and maintains good circulation and lowers blood pressure.
· Exercise helps to clear the mind of worrying thoughts and anxieties. It also encourages more creativity and problem solving.
· Exercise improves self-image, appearance and tends to control weight.
· Exercise may result in increased social contact.

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