How To Stop Panic Attacks – Visualization And Focus To Help Stop Your Panic Attack

There are many theories about how to stop panic attacks, but the 2 methods that work best for me are visualization and focusing. Sometimes we have some advance warning that a panic attack is approaching and that gives us time to concentrate and practice our breathing techniques or brew a nice cup of herbal tea to help calm our nerves. But often a panic attack will strike unannounced, giving us no time to brew tea or remember how to breathe properly.

In the event of one of these surprise attacks, I find it easiest to try using visualization to calm my fears and relieve my anxiety. I imagine myself lying on the beach, with the sun warming my body and the waves tickling my toes. I actually concentrate hard enough to feel the grains of sand beneath my legs and the warmth of the sun on my face and arms. I keep concentrating until I can feel the breeze drifting over my body and smell the salt in the air. This intense concentration takes me away from the panic attack long enough for it to subside. If I didn’t escape to the beach, I’d just go spiraling down with the attack, as each new sensation brought on by the attack added to the panic and fear and anxiety. By using visualization I’m able to calm myself within a matter of minutes and the panic attack has passed.

Sometimes, if I’m in line at the grocery store or driving my car, it’s not always possible to close my eyes and drift away to the beach when a panic attack hits. That’s when I use focusing as a way to divert my attention from the attack and point it in another direction. Depending on where I am when it occurs, I may choose to focus on a clock on the wall, or a magazine on the rack. Anything that will allow me to remain alert yet diverted from the pain of the attack. I keep a bundle of rubber bands in my purse and in my car, too, just in case. If I can’t immediately find something to focus on that will take my mind off of the panic attack, I slip a rubber band over my wrist and snap it, repeatedly, until I have gotten my mind away from the attack. Of course, I usually have a couple of nice, little red lines around my wrist when I’m done, but it’s a small price to pay if it stops my panic attack.

When someone asks me for advice on how to stop panic attacks, these are the two methods I most often recommend because they don’t require any special equipment, like brewing tea, and they don’t require you take a class to learn them, like learning proper breathing techniques. And, unlike the breathing techniques which I find complicated, these two techniques always work for me.