Engage In Light Exercise
Research shows that regular exercise can not only keep the body healthy but boost mental well-being, too.
Experts have found that exercising at 60 to 90 percent of your maximum heart rate for 20 minutes three times per week can help reduce anxiety.
If you are not used to exercising, talk with your doctor before starting. There is some evidence that starting aerobic exercise anew can trigger additional anxiety in people with an anxiety disorder. Building up gradually can help your body adjust and avoid breathing problems. Aerobic exercise includes activities such as running on a treadmill.
If you feel stressed or youre hyperventilating or struggling to breathe, stop and take a rest or choose a more moderate option, such as walking, swimming, or yoga.
Anxiety Attack Symptoms Include:
- Nausea or stomach cramps.
- Feeling detached or unreal.
It’s important to seek help if you’re starting to avoid certain situations because you’re afraid of having a panic attack. The truth is that panic attacks are highly treatable. In fact, many people are panic free within just 5 to 8 treatment sessions.
How To Cope When You Have Panic Attacks
Desperate for help, he reached out to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, which sent him a list of therapists experienced in treating panic attacks and anxiety. This is how I got better,” Sideman says. “I found a therapist who understood what panic disorder was, understood agoraphobia, and knew cognitive behavioral therapy, which I had not known about. He also started practicing meditation.
Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to help with treating panic disorder and agoraphobia. According to a study published in December 2013 in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy, its effects lasted as long as two years after the initial treatment. And a study published in August 2017 in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology suggested that it may be superior to traditional psychotherapy in the treatment of this condition.
People generally can overcome panic attacks faster if they seek help after the first one or two, says psychologist Cheryl Carmin, PhD, director of clinical psychology training at the Wexner Medical Center and a professor at Ohio State University in Columbus. When you do seek help, your doctor or therapist will ask about your symptoms and the situations in which they arise, and might also recommend additional medical testing to rule out other health concerns.
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What Causes Panic Disorder
Panic disorder sometimes runs in families, but no one knows for sure why some family members have it while others dont. Researchers have found that several parts of the brain and certain biological processes may play a crucial role in fear and anxiety. Some researchers think panic attacks are like false alarms where our bodys typical survival instincts are active either too often, too strongly, or some combination of the two. For example, someone with panic disorder might feel their heart pounding and assume theyre having a heart attack. This may lead to a vicious cycle, causing a person to experience panic attacks seemingly out of the blue, the central feature of panic disorder. Researchers are studying how the brain and body interact in people with panic disorder to create more specialized treatments. In addition, researchers are looking at the ways stress and environmental factors play a role in the disorder.
Anxiety Attacks And Severity
What makes anxiety attacks unique is that even though they are a mental health issue, it is often the physical symptoms that get the most attention, This is what those without anxiety often struggle to understand. Anxiety attacks cause intense physical symptoms that mimic serious health disorders. Symptoms include:
- Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet
- Rapid heartbeat/heart palpitations
In many ways, anxiety attacks are similar to heart attacks. There may be other unusual issues as well, such as trouble with your vision, your teeth, your muscles, your nerves, and more. For example, some people experience weird jolts, others experience blurry vision, others experience tooth pain or hear unexplained noises.
Not all anxiety attacks are the same, but they all tend to be very physical and result in a feeling like something is terribly wrong.
What makes anxiety attacks worse is that they cause other symptoms that exacerbate the physical problems. One of the symptoms of anxiety attacks is this incredibly intense feeling of doom – as though something horrific is about to happen. That is actually a symptom of anxiety attacks, not just a response to the physical sensations, but when combined with the physical symptoms it can make a person convinced that they are about to suffer from something terrible.
Anxiety attacks also have other frightening psychological symptoms as well, such as:
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What Can Bring Them On
Stephanie Wijkstrom, a nationally certified counselor and founder of Counseling and Wellness Center of Pittsburgh, explains that triggers for a panic attack are varied but often a panic attack has no known trigger or precipitating event, which makes it even more confusing for the person experiencing the panic attack.
Saranga adds that in many cases, panic attacks are the result of built up stress, a response to a major life change both good and bad, or even specific situations like flying, elevators or being around certain animals. For some people, usually patients with true panic disorder who suffer more regular attacks, sometimes there is no obvious cause,” he says. “These attacks can happen suddenly and are rooted in brain chemistry, genetics and chemical imbalances.”
Wijkstrom explains that a person can have one single panic attack without having a panic disorder or anxiety disorder. Other times, the panic disorder, which is hallmarked by frequent panic attacks and particularly a pattern of avoiding situations to prevent the possibility of a future panic attack, could be an indicator that the panic attack is evolving into a mental health disorder, she says. Stress, medication withdrawal, caffeine, grief, major life events like a wedding or divorce can also be triggers for a panic attack.
Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator
This online resource, provided by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration , helps you locate mental health treatment facilities and programs. Find a facility in your state by searching SAMHSAs online Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator. For additional resources, visit NIMHs Help for Mental Illnesses webpage.
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There May Be No Obvious Trigger
A panic attack is your body’s response to some perceived threat, albeit one that may not be readily apparent. It could be that a person’s survival-mode instincts are excessive, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Panic attacks are a symptom of panic disorder, per the DSM-5.¹ Why some people experience these attacks isn’t entirely clear, although a family history of panic attacks, stressful life events, and environmental factors are thought to may play a role.
Panic attacks often begin in a person’s teens or before the age of 25, but they can also strike children and adults in their 30s.
Who Gets Panic Attacks
Anyone can experience a panic attack. The risk, however, is highest for teens and people in their 20s. If you havent had a panic attack by age 45, youre less likely to have an episode later in life.
Women are more than twice as likely as men to get panic attacks, but researchers arent entirely sure why that disparity exists.
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What Does A Panic Attack Feel Like
Unfortunately, panic attacks can occur suddenly, without warning. Theres no way to stop a panic attack after it starts. Attacks typically last less than 30 minutes, but sometimes can vary.
A panic attack is an abrupt period of intense fear and is accompanied by four or more of the following emotional, physiological and behavioral symptoms:
Emotional
Why Do I Get Random Panic Attacks For No Reason
It can be confusing, frustrating and even terrifying to experience random panic attacks that appear to occur for no reason.
You may feel completely calm one moment before experiencing a range of physical and psychological symptoms that leave you feeling as though you are going crazy or having a heart attack.
There are two main types of panic attacks, labelled as expected and unexpected. An expected panic attack has an identifiable trigger for example, if you are afraid of flying then an expected panic attack would likely occur on the plane.
In comparison, unexpected panic attacks appear to happen out of the blue and seemingly for no reason.
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You Feel Exhausted Afterward
People who have panic attacks quickly deplete the resources their bodies have marshaled to fend off the presumed danger. Sooner or later, that burst of energy, fueled by a spike in blood sugar, will get spent and “they’re going to crash,” Hunter explained.
After the panic attack subsides, he said, they feel “wiped out.”
While they tend to be terrifying, the good news is panic attacks can be easy to spot if you know what to look out for. And just because you experience a panic attack doesn’t mean it will happen again. If you’re concerned about future occurrences, reach out to your health care provider and come up with a plan so you feel empowered to deal with those sensations should they arise.
You May Think You’re Having A Heart Attack
A racing or pounding heart is a common symptom of a panic attack. You might even have chest pain or discomfort. That’s why people having panic attacks often believe they’re having a heart attack. But once in the hospital, they start to feel better because “the danger is starting to go away,” Hunter said.
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What Are The Signs And Symptoms Of Panic Disorder
People with panic disorder may have:
- Sudden and repeated panic attacks of overwhelming anxiety and fear
- A feeling of being out of control, or a fear of death or impending doom during a panic attack
- An intense worry about when the next panic attack will happen
- A fear or avoidance of places where panic attacks have occurred in the past
- Physical symptoms during a panic attack, such as:
- Pounding or racing heart
- Stomach pain or nausea
Stress Anxiety And Then Panic: Neal’s Story
As Sideman says, his attack occurred in the early 1990s, and few people seriously considered the possibility of a panic attack in a 39-year-old man. So he went home thinking all would be fine, only to have another, more severe attack one week later.
Now, looking back, the situation seems clearer.
I was under a lot of stress starting a new business, working 16-hour days, a close friend was ill and dying, and on top of all that, I was doing a super heavy workout regimen at the gym with a trainer,” Sideman says. “So it was a lot of physical stress, emotional stress, and a lot of financial stresses.” He says he also can see roots of anxiety in his childhood and teen years as well as in other family members.
In the moment, he didnt know what to think because it can be tough to know what a panic attack is like until you have one. His second panic attack was really a full-blown panic attack, where I thought I was going to die,” Sideman says. “I thought I was going to pass out, not wake up, go crazy, have a heart attack.”
He recalled being terrified, and the response he chose was one that can actually make panic disorder worse: He started to avoid the situations where he had attacks.
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How Long Do Panic Attacks Last
Panic attacks are generally brief, lasting less than 10 minutes, although some of the symptoms may last longer. An isolated panic attack, while extremely unpleasant, is not uncommon or life-threatening.
Panic attacks can be a symptom of other anxiety disorders, and people whoâve had one panic attack are at greater risk for another compared to those whoâve never had one. Panic attacks and panic disorder are not the same thing. When the attacks happen repeatedly and you worry about having more episodes, you may have panic disorder.
What Other Behaviours Are Related To Panic Disorder
Adults with panic disorder will often change their behaviour to feel safer and try to prevent future panic attacks. Examples include:
- Carrying items such as medication, water or a cell phone
- Having a companion accompany them places
- Avoiding physical activities that might trigger panic-like feelings
- Avoiding certain foods or beverages because they might trigger panic-like symptoms
- Sitting near exits or bathrooms
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You Avoid Situations That Trigger Similar Symptoms
“A person who is very, very fearful about having the next panic attack might do a lot of things to prevent those panic attacks,” Brown explained. They begin to avoid activities like exercise, which raises their heart rate and quickens their breathing. They focus on those feelings, which makes them more anxious, ultimately leading them “down the rabbit hole of having more and more .”
But not everyone who has panic attacks goes on to develop panic disorder, she added. In order to be diagnosed with panic disorder, you must have one or more panic attacks followed by at least one month of fear related to having another panic attack or acting in ways to avoid panic attacks.¹
Try Muscle Relaxation Techniques
During a panic attack, the tension in the muscles can cause anxiety, and muscle relaxation techniques can help reduce tension and promote relaxation. The technique of muscle relaxation is similar to deep breathing in that it may be able to stop your panic attack in its tracks by controlling the bodys response to it as much as possible .
How to: You can relax your muscles at home by consciously relaxing one muscle at a time. Start with something simple, such as your fingers in your hand, and work your way up.
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Why Might I Have A Panic Attack
A panic attack can happen at any time or place, including at nighttime, and because it can happen quite quickly, it might feel unexpected.
Because a panic attack is an intense feeling of fear and anxiety, it often happens if you are feeling very anxious about something happening in your life, or you have experienced something difficult or stressful. This might be:
- a difficult situation at home that is making you anxious
- a frightening experience like abuse, or neglect
- feeling stressed about things like exams, work, friendships or relationships
- if you have lost a friend or family member
- if you are being bullied
- anxiety around school, college or university
There are many reasons why you might feel anxious and have a panic attack. Everyone has different experiences and thats okay. Sometimes, it might feel like there is no clear reason why you are having a panic attack.
Whats important is to try and understand what you might be feeling anxious or stressed about, and what types of situations or places can cause you to have panic attacks.
The first step to doing this is to talk to someone you trust, like a friend, family member, teacher or GP. They can help you understand what you are experiencing and help you find the support you need.
I get a pounding heart and my breathing becomes rapid like I cant get any air in – it feels stuck in the back of my throat.
After You’ve Had A Panic Attack
Once you feel your breath returning to normal, you start to feel more in control of your body and your thoughts start to calm down, you might feel drained and tired from the panic attack. It can be a good idea to take some time out to look after yourself and rest if you are able to. If you are not sure what to do to relax, here are some things that might help:
- Breathing exercises a simple breathing exercise can have a calming effect and help you to relax
- Use a self-soothe box. A self-soothe box contains things that make you feel relaxed. You can put some of your favourite things in there to focus your mind.
- Listen to some of your favourite music or watch your favourite TV show. This can help you switch off from your anxious thoughts and help you to calm down.
- Drinking some water can help if you were breathing quickly, felt out of breath or were crying a lot during your panic attack, as your throat might feel dry or you may feel dehydrated.
Everyone has a different way of looking after themselves, so find something that works for you. For more tips and advice on how to look after yourself, visit our taking time out page.
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What Helps To Manage Panic Attacks
Panic attacks can be frightening, but there are things you can do to help yourself cope. It could help to print off these tips, or write them down, and keep them somewhere easy to find.
During a panic attack:
- Focus on your breathing. It can help to concentrate on breathing slowly in and out while counting to five.
- Stamp on the spot. Some people find this helps control their breathing.
- Focus on your senses. For example, taste mint-flavoured sweets or gum, or touch or cuddle something soft.
- Try grounding techniques. Grounding techniques can help you feel more in control. They’re especially useful if you experience dissociation during panic attacks. See our page on for more information on grounding techniques.
After a panic attack:
- Think about self-care. It’s important to pay attention to what your body needs after you’ve had a panic attack. For example, you might need to rest somewhere quietly, or eat or drink something.
- Tell someone you trust. If you feel able to, it could help to let someone know you’ve had a panic attack. It could be particularly helpful to mention how they might notice if you’re having another one, and how you’d like them to help you.
See our pages on and for more information on what could help.