4 Ways to Cope with a Panic Attack
How you deal with an attack can impact its severity and even its chances of recurring.
About a week after September 11, 2001, I was in the bathroom of my cousin’s house, hyperventilating and thinking I was having a heart attack.
Just before that, I was sitting at the dinner table, and the conversation had become very tense. People were reflecting on the terrorist attacks and wondering if our city, Los Angeles, would be targeted next. I was already stressed out about my dissertation, and this conversation had tipped my anxiety over the edge.
Ironically, I had spent the previous five years working on research studies of panic disorder, including providing evidence-based therapy for clients with panic disorder.
Still, I didn’t initially realize I was having a panic attack myself.
However, once I was in the bathroom, I realized I was having a panic attack and talked myself down. I decatastrophized my belief that I was having a heart attack by telling myself it was a panic attack.
I also refocused some of my attention on noticing the different elements in the bathroom (taking attention away from my physical sensations). In the end, the panic attack resolved relatively quickly. It did not become a more…
