My Panic Attack Survival Kit

3 quick, cheap and easy things to do to get you through the bad moments as fast as humanly possible.

For a variety of health reasons, I can’t take antidepressants or anxiety medication anymore. Drinking alcohol though tempting, just makes everything worse and I have enough problems sleeping without imbibing any more stimulants. So when a recent shunt on the motorway followed a series of ‘life crashes’, and it brought everything else to the fore and I started having panic attacks multiple times a day for no apparent reason or obvious trigger, I had to find ways to cope that don’t involve pharma, alcohol or for me, mindfulness. I am a positive person and espouse positivity to the world as the only way forward to improved health and wellbeing in our day to day life. But I find in these moments of physical panic attacks that I can’t just get positive like flicking a switch. It’s your thoughts that got you there in the first place and it’s damn near impossible to just swap horses mid mini break down.

Initially, with the help of a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist, I started bringing them under control by breathing. It was easy to remember to breathe in for 3, hold for 3, out for 3, relax for 3. It works well, but it was taking a while to kick in. The panic will continue until your heart has calmed down. During those few minutes I got to think all sorts of horrific thoughts that were quite damaging to my outlook, like repeating my list of fears, regrets, things that make me angry and beating myself up about how I’m pathetically powerless to stop these attacks and how much longer will they go on? Why can’t I stop this thing that’s bigger than me? I hate all this adrenaline pumping, it’s getting painful, can’t I take something to just stop it? Will the attacks keep getting more frequent, embarrassingly worse and out of control? What’s the point of ‘it all’ anyway… and… XYZ downward spiral. Really not helpful.

If you’re reading this then chances are you know all about panic attacks, how it feels to suffer one, what they are and what brings them on for you, you don’t need me to describe the mechanics.

We’ve all got a lot going on right now. For fear of reminding myself or inspiring your overactive imagination to go into overdrive, I won’t go into listing all the things I’m freaking out about at the moment either.

I’d rather get straight to the point and let you know my recently discovered techniques for getting over them almost immediately.

So this week my therapist gave me a couple of pointers for speeding it up which are working so well, I just have to share them with fellow sufferers.

1. Smell something strong.

Not necessarily something nice but something really pungent. Remember the good old smelling salts that revive the swooning damsel in the black and white movies? Apparently our olfactory projection areas overlap with neuronal areas of a panic-specific fear network in the body but react more quickly and disrupt the ‘attack’. Put simply, the body is designed to give priority to sensing real danger like if we’re likely to catch fire imminently, than to attend to listing our fears and imaginary outcomes.

So I bought some Olbas oil inhalers because they’re small and cheap so I can put them everywhere, in my bag, car, by my laptop, bed, sofa. It smells great, feels vaguely healthy in a natural way and works instantly.

2. Touch something spiky and run it along your skin.

Again the sense of touch is greater and more prominent to our nervous system than our lunatic thoughts.

I bought a pack of “Large Spiky 7.5cm LED Flashing Bouncy Disco Balls with Light, Squishy Stress Relief Fidget Squeezy Spikey Ball Toy for OCD ADHD ADD & Autism High Anxiety Levels, Ideal Pet Toy or Baby Sensory Class” very cheaply on Amazon cos they looked like fun. And they are! Roll them along your thighs or arms. Squeeze or play catch with the dog. S’all good.

3. Move.

Use the adrenaline to escape the trigger, go for a walk, get a change of scenery, exercise or dance.

I have a couple of weights I hold while I sit on the edge of my sofa, stretch out my legs and practise sit-ups or rowing. It’s extremely convenient, doesn’t have to interfere with whatever you’re doing, it’s just a few minutes’ break. Sometimes I then get up and dance around, do a few squats and you know what? I’m getting fitter. Every day it gets a bit easier. I just go with what my body feels like stretching and working, no biggie, just trying things out and listening to my body and surprising myself. It only takes a few seconds to put on a banging tune and go a bit longer.

I’ve only been doing the Olbas oil and spikey toy for a few days but I’ve found it almost instantly stops the attack and already I’ve noticed a reduction in frequency. I’ve turned a corner and feel fitter for using the adrenaline in a positive way.

I hope you find this helpful too :)

UPDATE

It’s been a couple of months now and I find I’m free of panic attacks. The therapist says I have interrupted the programming that created them.

But she warned I may relapse and sometimes with renewed challenges I have begun to feel that familiar dip that leads to an event.

So I have adapted the technique to suit all the running around I have to do. Now, if I ever feel the old feeling coming on I just scratch the back of my hand and say to myself, “Is that smoke I can smell?”

Yes, it’s a lie to myself, but so is the exaggerating thought that usually brings on a panic. More importantly it’s a phrase that, whatever the truth of the matter, stimulates the various processes inside my body that, overwrought, have worked against me in the past, to search for a crisis outside my body.

It works for me now in a positive way, every time. Try it.

Life has changed and we all have to adapt to the ‘new normal’ whatever that is for us individually. I’m going to keep looking at more ways to use it as an opportunity to let go of the past and find a calmer, more natural rhythm.