Tips To Prevent Panic Attacks

If you're reading this, then chances are you suffer from the occasional panic attack.

While it might seem like panic attacks can strike out of nowhere, there's plenty that we can do to try and prevent them.

Here's my top 20 tips...

1. Examine Your Worries: Most of us have an underlying source of worry that drives us crazy. Sometimes we're not even aware of it consciously but these underlying thoughts can have a huge impact on our mood and our decision making. If you can identify your worries, you'll be able to tackle them in advance before they start to spiral into something more serious.

2. Take Action: Taking action will generally make you feel better about yourself and change your perception about the situation that is bothering you. It cures problems and prevents stress in a very effective way because it's hard to stay worried or afraid when you are moving towards a goal instead of away from something that could hurt you.

3. Sleep: It's been said that sleep deprivation makes you prone to panic attacks because it decreases your mental capacity and lessens your ability to deal with problems. Make sure you're getting enough sleep on a regular basis.

3. Laugh: Laughter will instantly boost your mood and make you feel lighter about life in general. Whenever I'm feeling down I try to watch a comedy, listen to a funny song or go out with friends for some laughs.

4. Talk To Someone: You need to talk about how you feel; it's important work through any problems that might be bothering you before they get the best of you. Don't have anyone to talk to? Admit it to yourself and then make a plan of action - start a forum, join a chat room, whatever. Just find someone to talk to because isolation will only increase your anxiety levels.

5. Don't Get Angry: Anger causes so many problems in our lives, not just panic attacks. If you're feeling angry, take some time away from the situation and try and solve whatever is bothering you rationally before you do something rash.

6. Stay Positive: Yes staying positive sounds stupid but it really does work! Positive thinking will get you far in life so if you want it badly enough then that's all that matters anyway!

7. Don't Think About Fear: This is harder to do than you'd think but try not to think of all the scary things that could happen if you panic. If you catch yourself thinking like this, just change the subject in your head and focus on something else.

8. Stay Busy: If you want to prevent panic attacks, stay busy! The more active you are, the less time you have to sit around and worry about things. Again, if you're having problems with this one then try finding a support group or forum online where people can help keep your mind off your worries and fears.

9. Find Something To Look Forward To: If you have something to look forward to, you'll be able to focus on that instead of the problems that could lead to a panic attack.

10. Eat Healthy: Diet is also a big factor in preventing panic attacks; if you're not getting enough vitamins and nutrients, your mood will suffer and this will make it much easier for you to break into a full blown panic attack. Make sure you eat healthy meals regularly and drink plenty of water so that your body gets all the energy it needs.

11. Stay Active: Most people who suffer from panic attacks would feel much better if they were able to exercise regularly. If you find yourself not being able to get out and about, then start small, then work up until you're able to walk for a few hours every day.

12. Increase Your Self-Esteem: If you feel low in confidence or think that life will be better if you didn't have panic attacks, then try reevaluating your life and change your opinions about things! Why are you having these panic attacks? What can you do to improve your situation?

13. Consider Your Options: If you feel like you have a panic attack coming on, stop whatever it is that you're doing so that you don't make the situation worse. Try to figure out what has triggered your panic attack and then avoid that trigger in the future but also try to think of solutions to your problem – there are always solutions!

14. Do Some Push-Ups: I know this sounds stupid but whenever I'm feeling anxious or panicky, I always push my body to the limit. I'll do as many push-ups as I can to work up a sweat and it usually helps me forget about my problems for a few minutes anyway (plus it makes me feel like a total bad-ass!)

15. Don't Give In To Fear: If you let fear take over your life, then it will become more and more powerful until you can't live without it. If you can overcome the initial fear of a panic attack, then they will lose all their power.

16. Find A Distraction: Panic attacks are usually brought on by something in the present – like your fears, responsibilities or worries. If you can find a way to distract yourself or forget about your problems when they pop up, then they won't be able to overwhelm you as easily.

17. Stay Away From Certain Foods And Drugs: If you eat or drink too much caffeine, then it will feed your anxiety and make it much easier for you to panic. Try cutting back on coffee and tea if you want; they actually do little in the way of giving you energy anyway. As for alcohol, well that's just not a good idea at all! Stick to clear liquors like vodka or tequila if you want the buzz but skimp on the mixer so that there will be less sugar in your body.

18. Watch Your Stress Levels: If you're feeling stressed about something and you can't get out of it, then take time to examine why this is worrying you so much. What is it about this situation that's causing you so much stress?

19. Don't Worry About What People Think: Remember, panic attacks are nothing to be ashamed of – they're a serious medical condition that affect hundreds of thousands of people!

20. Try Meditation: You can do this by yourself or in a group setting but meditation is an extremely good way to prevent panic attacks because it reduces the stress levels in your body and helps you realize that the world is not out to get you. Just make sure you pick a form of meditation that works for your personality and stick with it no matter what!

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Conclusion:

I hope that you've found this list on how to prevent panic attacks useful. If you'd like to learn more then keep reading – there are some great resources online that will teach you the best methods to combat this condition and help you avoid them in the future.

If you're feeling anxious about an upcoming situation then remember that anxiety is nothing more than your body's natural fight or flight response in a threatening situation and it is nothing to be ashamed of.