Panic Attacks
A Panic Attack at full force is a very overwhelming and scary experience. As it is often a misfiring of one of the body’s most powerful automatic survival reactions – the Fight or Flight Response – it involves almost the entire body and can leave you physically and emotionally drained. Given this, it can be hard to relax and reassure yourself when you feel one starting.
As the Fight or Flight Response is a natural defence system within us, it does have a natural balancing counter. You just need to learn what it is and then be able to use it when you feel a Panic Attack starting. The other component is to recognise what may ‘set you off’ and how you can reduce your stress level throughout the day. Basically the Fight or Flight Response is there for possible physical threats to your safety, unfortunately the brain isn’t always able to distinguish emotional or stress-based upset from physical threat.
As Panic Attacks can be so overwhelming, it can be hard to believe that something as simple as slow gentle deep breathing is a natural inbuilt counter, yet it is. Learning when and how to do this simple act can be easily done in the workshop or in a 1:1 session if there are other factors that also need addressing.
Links and Resources
2) Tool Kit for Beating Panic Attacks