If you suffer from anxiety disorder, naturally you’re also susceptible to having anxiety attacks. Fortunately, there are simple and natural tricks that you can use to alleviate and even avert this unpleasant condition. To further increase your chances of controlling and managing anxiety attacks, you may want to become familiar with desensitization techniques and anxiety relaxation techniques.
We have prepared several articles to help you deal with anxiety. All the information you need is available for free at this website. Not only have we laid out the theoretical implications of anxiety, but we also provided lots of practical advice that you can start using right away. Always remember that information is useless unless you use it accordingly!
Also, you should know that anxiety attacks and panic attacks are different phenomena, with different causes and consequences. Anxiety attacks are comparatively milder, and unlike panic, they are usually prompted by a specific cue (such as a thought, a situation or even a person).
If you’re unsure on which type of attacks youire afflicted with, make sure to also read this article on panic attacks symptoms.
Are you having an anxiety attack?
The items enumerated below are typical symptoms of anxiety attacks. However, they are also commonly manifested in other forms of illnesses and disorders. Arriving to an abrupt conclusion does nothing except heightened your current state. Set aside conclusions unless youire absolutely definite and, more importantly, if your doctor personally confirms it.
* Burning sensations throughout the skin and muscles
* Confused thoughts and overwhelming emotions arising abruptly
* Excessive perspiration and sweating with no external cause
* Feeling that something terribly wrong is just about to happen
* Hearing troubles, as though your ears suddenly get plugged or stuffed
* Impulses to literally escape or run away from where you are
* Intense emotional distress, inner turbulence or similar disturbances
* Intense fear, negativity, or disproportionate apprehension
* Losing touch with reality or your own identity, as if everything is suddenly alien to you
* Nauseated sensations arising briefly and intensely without logical cause
* Numb sensations or tingling “pins and needles” across the body
* Paleness or flushing of the skin without apparent external causes
* Pressure around your head, as though it was wrapped tightly
* Staggering, dizziness, or a sudden hindrance of your sense of balance
* Uncomfortable feelings in the chest, including pressure and tightness
* Upset digestion or feeling that your stomach is tied in a knot
* Urging to urinate, defecate and vomit, which doesn’t go away even after several visits to the bathroom
* Worrying you may suddenly lose control or go crazy
In anxiety attacks, you do not experience these symptoms all at once. The least number of manifestations is four of these items.
What to do when anxiety attack symptoms hit you
1. Neither resist nor yield to your anxious feelings: The most common reaction of anxiety sufferers is to either struggle with or completely surrender to it. These are two extremes that put anxiety as an unbearable foe. Anxiety isnit that. When an attack is about to surface, acknowledge it and then prepare yourself with the necessary techniques to control it.
2. Relax. Feeling engrossed or overwhelmed only makes it worst: The reason why the symptoms are given here is to help you become aware of the signs. You need to think of them as warning signs not to inflict fear or stop you defenseless, but rather to remind you that there is still time to stop them from overtly attacking.
3. Control anxiety attacks and not the other way around: Why do you have to assume that an attack will surely get the best of you? It wonit! Is it bigger than your whole person? Itis not! Practice the imind over matteri attitude. You can do almost anything when you believe and practice positive thinking. The same is true with managing anxiety attacks, so you must not assume you’ll never be able to stop them.
4. Empower yourself and not the attacks: Anxiety attacks are often a self-fulfilling prophecy, meaning that you actually empower them and make them happen without even realizing you’re doing so. That is why itis always important to focus on whatis emotionally good and uplifting. Replace negativity with whatis worthy and essential.
5. Strive to stay out of the anxiety loop even as it closes on you: Anxiety attacks feel very much like an emotional loop, which gets tighter and tighter until you’re completely suffocated by it. However, if youire aware of its manifestations and use the right techniques (see below), then you can certainly stay out of or break free from this dark loop.
6. Distract yourself: When you experience some of these symptoms and you suspect you may be about to have an anxiety episode, distract yourself. Do something that will make you forget about it. Go for a walk, have a snack, play some video games or get someone to chat. Exit the train of thought that was about to make you anxious.
7. Brace yourself for a “rollercoaster ride” of emotions: Anxiety attacks can be very confusing, and they are not a nice experience. But if itis any consolation, itis going to happen fast. They usually don’t take more than 5 to 10 minutes. If you keep things in perspective, waiting it out is not as terrible as it may seem because it WILL PASS.
8. Keep in mind that you will get better at dealing with anxiety: You should do everything you can to avoid having anxiety attacks. You should look into the different techniques available and try out what works best for you. If one doesnit seem to provide the help, move on to another. Eventually, you will only get better at knowing what works for you and on dealing with them.
What to put in your personal anxiety management toolkit
Have you noticed the extensive selection of materials we have prepared in this website? These are all available for free. You can access them anytime you want. We have provided you with practical advices that you can greatly benefit. But remember, different techniques work best for different patients, so you’ll have to experiment a bit until you find the right tools for your personal anxiety management toolkit.
If you don’t know where to start, we have prepared an article to help you get moving! In this article, we provided specific techniques that are usually effective in managing anxiety attacks. These include breathing exercises, relaxation techniques, and a unique method based on visualization, which many psychologists recommend to their anxiety patients. Why not give it a try?
