{"id":763,"date":"2021-12-02T06:44:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T06:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/?p=763"},"modified":"2022-01-06T06:45:16","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T06:45:16","slug":"self-help-for-panic-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/self-help-for-panic-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"Self-help for panic attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Irina Sergeevna Krailina, a&nbsp;psychotherapist with&nbsp;more than 14&nbsp;years of&nbsp;experience,&nbsp;tells&nbsp;about&nbsp;effective methods of self-help for panic attacks,&nbsp;how they work, and the&nbsp;role of psychotherapy&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A person who has experienced a panic attack for the first time thinks that&nbsp;something extraordinary, terrible, catastrophic has happened&nbsp;to&nbsp;him.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many of my patients, when they master the methods of controlling emotions, thoughts and the&nbsp;body, exclaim: \u201cOh, if&nbsp;only when this happened for the first time, someone told me that this is a&nbsp;disorder&nbsp;well known to doctors and&nbsp;psychologists, that it can be treated, and&nbsp;most importantly&nbsp;&#8211;&nbsp;they don&#8217;t&nbsp;die&nbsp;of&nbsp;him&nbsp;! &#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After all, then, at the&nbsp;very beginning, there was one most terrible thought that covered everything in the&nbsp;world like a&nbsp;black cloud&nbsp;: \u201cNobody&nbsp;knows what happened to&nbsp;me.&nbsp;I&nbsp;will die. &#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, a person tries to get first aid by calling an ambulance, or sent to a&nbsp;therapist or cardiologist.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Many people try to fight&nbsp;this disorder&nbsp;on their own&nbsp;, looking for recommendations and&nbsp;advice on&nbsp;how to get rid of&nbsp;panic attacks.&nbsp;Usually on the&nbsp;internet.&nbsp;There is a lot of information there, often it is scattered and&nbsp;contradictory.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Therefore, I&nbsp;will try to systematize the information on the&nbsp;recommendations and&nbsp;methods of self-help and&nbsp;talk about the&nbsp;benefits of psychotherapy.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those wishing to understand the topic in more depth, the&nbsp;article contains the &#8220;More&#8221; blocks:&nbsp;you need to click \/ click&nbsp;on&nbsp;them for additional information to appear.&nbsp;If your goal&nbsp;is to only learn about&nbsp;self-help methods, just read the regular font.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>More about the&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>mechanism of development and&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>symptoms of panic attacks<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click on the&nbsp;title to read the text&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To clearly explain how different self-help methods work, consider a person as an integral system and&nbsp;highlight 4&nbsp;components:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>the human body;<\/li><li>his emotions;<\/li><li>thoughts;<\/li><li>the external environment with&nbsp;which he&nbsp;interacts.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These components interact with each other, affect each&nbsp;other.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>An example of the interaction of body, emotions, thoughts and&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>environment<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click on the&nbsp;title to read the text&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Self-help for panic attacks: body<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of all there are recommendations-tips for&nbsp;self-help in&nbsp;relation to the body:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>intensive exercise in the&nbsp;morning&nbsp;and (or) physical activity at the first signs of anxiety;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>long walks in the&nbsp;fresh air;&nbsp;<\/li><li>deep calm breathing, or &#8220;diaphragmatic breathing&#8221;, or &#8220;belly breathing&#8221;, other types of breathing exercises;<\/li><li>avoiding&nbsp;alcohol and&nbsp;stimulants;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>cold and hot shower;<\/li><li>getting enough sleep;<\/li><li>plentiful warm drink;<\/li><li>medicines, herbal medicine, homeopathy;<\/li><li>acupuncture.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Separately, it should be said about the&nbsp;methods of targeted activation of the parasympathetic division of the ANS and&nbsp;reducing the heart rate by evoking specific reflexes:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>according to&nbsp;Ashner&nbsp;&#8211; close the eyes and&nbsp;press intensively on the&nbsp;eyeballs&nbsp;with the pads of the thumbs for&nbsp;15\u201320&nbsp;seconds;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>reflex &#8220;diving dog&#8221;&nbsp;&#8211; hold your breath and&nbsp;immerse your face in a&nbsp;basin of&nbsp;ice water;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>Valsalva reflex&nbsp;&#8211; to strain at the&nbsp;height of a deep breath;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>cause a gag reflex (urge to&nbsp;vomit, but&nbsp;not&nbsp;vomiting itself)&nbsp;&#8211; press on the&nbsp;root of the tongue.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Attention!&nbsp;These actions are contraindicated in the following conditions:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>severe chest pain&nbsp;;&nbsp;<\/li><li>shortness of breath and&nbsp;cough with&nbsp;foamy sputum;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>severe weakness, decreased blood pressure;<\/li><li>convulsions, impaired sensitivity and&nbsp;movement in the&nbsp;limbs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>loss of consciousness.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>These methods work &#8220;through the body&#8221;&nbsp;&#8211; they affect the autonomic nervous system through&nbsp;one of&nbsp;three mechanisms:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\"><li>Contribute to discharge in&nbsp;her&nbsp;sympathetic department.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>The parasympathetic division is activated.<\/li><li>They harmonize and stabilize their&nbsp;activities.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>How Some Self-Help Techniques Affect&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>ANS<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Click on the&nbsp;title to read the text&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Self-help for panic attacks: the environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With&nbsp;regard to how loved ones behave in&nbsp;such a situation, the following must be said: you&nbsp;should&nbsp;not&nbsp;completely free the&nbsp;person&nbsp;suffering from panic disorder from&nbsp;household chores, create &#8220;hothouse&#8221; conditions for him, protecting him from&nbsp;any emotional experiences.&nbsp;This will only increase the anxious mood of the person.&nbsp;And&nbsp;with prolonged suffering, it can even become conditionally attractive to the patient and&nbsp;partially hinder recovery.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, care should be moderate and&nbsp;not&nbsp;intrusive.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Self-help for panic attacks: thoughts and&nbsp;<\/strong><strong>emotions<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Suggestions for thoughts and&nbsp;emotions:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>switch thoughts with&nbsp;distractions;&nbsp;<\/li><li>reconsider your attitude towards&nbsp;health and&nbsp;death;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>determine with&nbsp;what thought it all started, and&nbsp;prove to yourself the absurdity of this thought;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><li>convince yourself that&nbsp;you can live&nbsp;with&nbsp;panic disorder;&nbsp;<\/li><li>meditate;<\/li><li>keep a diary;<\/li><li>read a prayer.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You may notice that some self-help methods affect the&nbsp;body,&nbsp;emotions, and&nbsp;thoughts.&nbsp;For example, meditation.&nbsp;Performing complex breathing techniques not&nbsp;only stimulates the parasympathetic division of the ANS, but&nbsp;also&nbsp;changes the gas composition of the blood and switches attention.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Changes in&nbsp;one area entail changes in&nbsp;another.&nbsp;For example, thoughts-memories of a&nbsp;pleasant event evoke pleasant emotions.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why psychotherapy is needed for panic attacks<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If&nbsp;everything is more or less clear&nbsp;with the&nbsp;body and&nbsp;specific recommendations are given, then&nbsp;with&nbsp;emotions and&nbsp;thoughts it&nbsp;is&nbsp;not&nbsp;so simple.&nbsp;On the&nbsp;one hand, the recommendations are more abstract, and&nbsp;on the&nbsp;other hand, they can even cause rejection:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol type=\"1\"><li>How can you suddenly take and&nbsp;change your thinking?&nbsp;<\/li><li>How to change emotions if a wave of fear is covering?<\/li><li>And&nbsp;how to influence the&nbsp;environment, except how to seek help?&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>This is&nbsp;where&nbsp;psychotherapy helps.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ericksonian hypnosis techniques, for example, can help relieve&nbsp;anxiety and&nbsp;fear.&nbsp;Cognitive behavioral therapy&nbsp;(&nbsp;CBT) also relieves&nbsp;panic attacks&nbsp;through changes in&nbsp;thought processes or&nbsp;behavioral patterns&nbsp;.&nbsp;Short-term strategic psychotherapy makes changes in the&nbsp;key points of the relationship system and&nbsp;allows you to achieve results in a&nbsp;short time.&nbsp;The best result is often obtained by a combination of several methods, selected individually.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The psychotherapist&nbsp;is a mediator who helps to &#8220;build bridges&#8221; between his own body, emotions, thoughts;&nbsp;build relationships with&nbsp;others.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as an adult helps a child to deduce the first letters, a&nbsp;psychotherapist helps a client:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>learn to look at\u00a0your feelings differently;\u00a0<\/li><li>gradually, step by\u00a0step, master all new ways of controlling the body;\u00a0<\/li><li>manage thoughts and\u00a0emotions, reduce the level of anxiety;\u00a0<\/li><li>develop new, healthy relationships with\u00a0others;\u00a0<\/li><li>and\u00a0most importantly\u00a0&#8211; to enjoy it\u00a0all!<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Irina Sergeevna Krailina, a&nbsp;psychotherapist with&nbsp;more than 14&nbsp;years of&nbsp;experience,&nbsp;tells&nbsp;about&nbsp;effective methods of self-help for panic attacks,&nbsp;how they work, and the&nbsp;role of psychotherapy&nbsp;.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A person who has experienced a panic attack for the first time thinks that&nbsp;something extraordinary, terrible, catastrophic has happened&nbsp;to&nbsp;him.&nbsp; Many of my patients, when they master the methods of controlling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=763"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":764,"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/763\/revisions\/764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stop-depression-info.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}