Creating a panic attack treatment at home may seem like a challenging task, but it can be very easy and straight forward.
Let’s go over how you can totally take back control of your life and say goodbye to panic attacks.
All the panic attack treatments below are all-natural and do not require the use of medication, but if you are on medication always check in with a doctor before getting off it.
Understanding Yourself And Panic Attacks
Curing anxiety and panic attacks may almost feel impossible to accomplish, and you may feel that it’s something to manage all your life.
No matter how crazy you may feel at times, there is always a solution to every problem you can face.
But to truly be free from anxiety and panic attacks we need to understand it first.
Anxiety and You
While anxiety and panic attacks are closely related they are not entirely the same thing.
A large number of people can experience anxiety, but not all can experience a panic attack.
Anxiety can feel like you’re at life’s edge at times, and a panic attack can feel like you’re falling, and are continuously falling.
And while anxiety can affect anybody, from the mentally strong to the most athletic and healthy person, only some will experience a panic attack.
It can also range from mild anxiety to severe and constant feelings of dread.
Understanding yourself and how anxiety affects you personally is key to solving and unraveling yourself from its grasp.
That’s why I recommend journaling to anyone and everyone in some shape or form, it helps bring awareness to yourself and your body.
For some, the cure to their anxiety becomes obvious and really straight forward after journaling.
And it all comes down to changing your mindset. Your mind can be considered the root of all evil, but at the same time, it’s also the healing spring of life.
But what can I do for my anxiety? how do others cure their own anxiety?
One, be confident and comfortable. Two, never limit yourself and push forward.
Don’t let anything stop you from enjoying life.
I am making it sound easier than it really is, but once change happens things will start to slowly make sense.
This process is taught very well by Barry Joe McDonagh, founder, and creator of the Panic Away program.
Panic Away is one of the best programs that has helped thousands of people cure anxiety and stop panic attacks. And the first thing he teaches is changing your mentality.
Signs Of Having an Anxiety Attack
Signs of having an anxiety attack can vary from…
Restlessness, Fatigue, Difficulty concentrating, Irritability, Muscle tension, Sleep disturbances, Becoming less social, Heart Palpitations, Sweating, Shortness of Breath.
In some cases, people can experience Depersonalization.
A detachment from one’s body or mind.
Often described by someone as if they are on the outside looking in.
Panic Attack
Now panic attacks are different from anxiety and anxiety attacks.
Panic attacks are a sudden surge of intense fear or panic that causes a wide variety of symptoms.
Symptoms like: heart palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, chest pains, fear of dying, hyperventilation, numbness, and tingling.
While the signs of having an anxiety attack are very similar, panic attacks are sudden and can happen anytime and anywhere without warning.
These symptoms arise with intensity and peak around 10 minutes and can begin to subside for some, but for others, they can last even 30 minutes.
Panic attacks are very unpleasant and frightening, so much so most people develop an intense fear of another or the next attack.
Having one isn’t something to be ashamed or embarrassed about, not everyone will experience a panic attack but most people will admit to feeling anxiety.
One thing many people don’t know is that panic attacks cant actually hurt you, in fact, the symptoms resemble that of a workout session.
And while this feeling is very real, these symptoms will always pass given enough time.
All of this is taught by Barry McDonough in his book Panic Away, you can check it out here.
Stay Focused and Motivated
Before anything else I personally want anyone reading this to keep this post as a resource or reminder and a way to stay accountable.
Bookmark the page, share it on Facebook, Pinterest or any other social media as a reminder and the reason you started.
Or as resource for someone else to use.
Curing anxiety and panic attacks will take time and energy, and staying focused and motivated all the time is ideal but not realistic.
So when you need a source for inspiration, this post will be there.
There are many ways to combat your anxiety, and while some may work, others won’t.
Panic Attack Treatment at Home
With a proper plan and strategy in place, anything can be accomplished.
Even curing anxiety and panic attacks naturally and without medication.
If you do take medication for your anxiety it’s important to speak with your doctor first before getting off of it.
Natural Panic Attack Treatments at Home
Sadly, many people have gone through years of unsuccessful treatments for ending anxiety and it due to the treatment of symptoms and not the root cause.
Treating the symptoms is just like sweeping dirt under the rug.
The problem isn’t in sight but that doesn’t mean it disappeared, in fact, it’s getting bigger.
Making a natural and healthy panic attack treatment at home for yourself is also not very hard and complicated, and can be straight forward.
I even urge you to keep it as simple as possible, making it easier to stick with it even on those rough and tough days.
Understanding Yourself
The first step in any treatment is knowing as much as possible about what is causing you harm or discomfort.
The same can be said for solving the riddle that is anxiety.
Self-discovery is by far the most important step in my opinion when it comes to making a panic attack treatments at home
What causes my anxiety?
What are the signs of having an anxiety attack?
Why does this/that cause a reaction in me?
When am I most anxiety?
What foods do I notice causes me stress?
Who or what stresses me out the most?
When and where do I get panic attacks?
These are but a small few questions you should always as yourself and solve.
They are like small puzzles that lead to a great treasure.
Change in Mentality
The mentality one has is so powerful that famous authors like Charlie Hoehn.
Author of “Play It Away: A Workaholic’s Cure for Anxiety“
He wrote a whole book on how changing his mentality cured his anxiety.
Not only him but Barry McDonough also teaches about the power of changing your mindset.
The mindset is very important, it can change the course of anyone’s day with the right mentality.
20 Second Countdown
Here is one really amazing and simple exercise you can do that can really help in controlling your own panic attack.
Its called the 20-second rule.
Whenever you feel your anxiety or a panic attack coming, you tell your body it has 20 seconds to finish, nothing more.
Whatever you feel any bodily sensation you fear, say to yourself it must happen within that 20-second time frame, then it stops.
-If your heart is going to explode then it has 20 seconds to do so.
-Whether or not you are going to lose control, then your mind has 20 seconds to do so.
-Or, If you are going to faint – 20 seconds! But absolutely no more time than that.
You get the picture.
By setting a specific time frame you establish boundaries and control.
If it were a poker game, you are asking anxiety to show its hand.
This works because it establishes a sense of control within your mind and body.
Count nice and slowly, breath deeply, and don’t allow anxiety or panic attacks more than 20 seconds.
Count your way to freedom. Count your way to confidence.
Journaling for Success
Almost all of the best treatment plans have protocols, steps, or a plan of action if you will for getting something done.
That’s why journaling is one of your strongest tools in fighting back against anxiety and panic attacks.
At first, it may seem like writing things down isn’t really gonna solve anything.
I am guilty of having this same thought and feelings about writing and journaling.
But the goal isn’t to just write for the sake of writing, there needs to be purpose and intent.
Our purpose for writing is to help cure our anxiety, keep that in mind when journaling.
The intent is how things are going to get accomplished.
There is one approach that I prefer and that is…
Observe, Label, Watch, and Move on.
If you have never journaled or are interesting in getting back into it with a bit of flair.
I recommend buying the “Breathe: Anxiety Workbook”
Created by Dominee over at BlessingManifest
Dominee has written and documented her struggles with anxiety.
She went on to create workbooks, planners, and resources for anyone dealing with anxiety.
She has amazing stuff and a lot of people think so too. You Can Get Her Whole Collection Here
Four-Step Approach in Journaling
This approach is used to gradually help you stop reacting with fear to the thought and learn to treat it them nothing more than weird thoughts.
Let’s go over each of these individually…
Observe: This is the first exercise.
Here we take in what we are feeling in the moments of anxiety or panic attack.
We don’t want to push anything away, we want to let it in.
Fighting these emotions and feelings is like fighting a heavy current.
Constantly fighting against all of these at the end of the day just exhaust you and leave you defenseless for the next attack.
Become comfortable with these and let them flow through you.
We are not trying to get rid of these thoughts, emotions or feelings because they will never go away fully.
Instead, let’s spend the energy on changing how we react.
Label: Labeling is where you can start writing.
This can serve as an outlet for the emotions felt and a way to catalog events and experiences.
Using the 4 W’s (Who, What, Where, Why), write down your story.
Don’t let it get stale though and get creative.
Draw graphs, or images, even rank experiences to best describe the different scenarios that cause these feelings to surface.
A little creativity goes a long way, and makes the process enjoyable and something to look forward to.
Watch: Always learn something new.
This step might be hard because relieving past events may resurface those same emotions your writing about.
But learning from past experiences is what keeps us alive.
Growing, understanding, and changing are necessary sometimes.
What could you have done differently, why did you react the way you did?
This is where we can start to see the change in both mentally and physically.
Move on: Finally we move on. Problems will keep coming your way in life.
So why should we allow one thing to keep us at the moment.
I imagine it like a dam, the water level will just keep increasing with time.
Eventually, if nothing is done the water will either spillover or crack the walls.
Nutrition and Diet
Now I am no nutritionist but I do know what an unhealthy diet and lifestyle can do.
Personally I can get pretty lazy, and prefer things nice and simple and the same thing can be said about my diet.
Drastic changes are not needed to have a positive effect on you, even one small change can make a huge difference.
Simple things like cutting back on meat, or adding more vegetables and fruits into meals can have long term benefits on both stress and anxiety.
Even adding more magnesium can have major improvements in your stress.
Its sometimes so important doctors highly advise patients with high levels of anxiety that are prone to panic attacks to change their diets.
Caffeine
Now caffeine is not entirely bad for you.
In fact, a little can actually perk you up and lift up one’s mood.
But it can also have negative effects on your stress levels.
Stress can make anxiety and panic attack symptoms feel more severe and happen more often.
If it does affect you this way you can reduce your intake by drinking green tea or cut it out completely.
Supplements
The same thing can be said about supplements.
They can be great support but they shouldn’t replace natural sources of vitamins and minerals.
And while there are many supplements marketed towards stress and anxiety relief, it is also worthy to note that supplements are not FDA regulated, so careful what you buy.
Check out our list of best anxiety and stress supplements that are all-natural.
Or if you prefer eating gummies I wrote this amazing review of the Goodbye Stress Gummies.
Green Tea
Green tea besides its smaller caffeine content is also great for helping you fight anxiety.
It has many antioxidants and unique compounds.
There is so much about tea that can be covered.
Getting Sleep
One of the best things you can do for yourself when breaking out of anxiety and panic is having energy.
If you don’t have enough energy throughout your day, it makes it that much easier for anxiety and stress to grow.
- Related: Sleeping With Anxiety
Self-Care for Panic Attack
When it comes to self-care it’s about creating a lifestyle and not just a way to cope with the different symptoms.
Here at Unwind Therapies, we believe in creating lifestyles that both compliment you as a person and create the amazing life you want.
Learn different lifestyle changes you can make for panic attacks.
Make time for yourself, sometimes we can get caught up in the world, work, responsibilities, and we forget to take care of ourselves.
We forget to have fun and live a little, or even push it aside telling ourselves I will have time later.
But then later never comes and you’re knee-deep in stress and anxiety.
Meditation
Usually, meditation is one of the first things that is brought up when trying to manage or even create a panic attack treatment at home.
But why do people recommend it so much?
Honestly, I would have been the last person to even try meditation.
If it was for this one class I took while learning massage therapy, I probably wouldn’t have ever tried it.
But that learning experience made me appreciate meditation and its power it has on creating that state of mind that helps you heal.
Especially mindfulness meditation, it helps you be aware of whatever it is that causes your anxiety.
This is so important because it helps you understand yourself.
Learning to meditate by yourself is not necessarily hard but its definitely way better to have someone teach you.
So check out “Master Your Mind“, by far the best meditation course online.
Meditation Not Your Thing
Even if you don’t meditate or don’t really consider trying it.
Be aware of when your mind is thinking negative or anxious thoughts and realizing that these thoughts are not beneficial.
Then, come up with different strategies that help you get out of these negative loops.
Doing this will have a drastic impact on your feelings and emotions.
Be aware of what brings up these thoughts, make a mental note.
Then create and try different things to remove the thoughts or prove them wrong.
Get Creative
Sometimes all of these things can just seem very boring, repetitive, or maybe you’ve already tried them and it either doesn’t work or doesn’t last long.
This is why we should stay proactive and creative.
I get bored very quickly of things so I’m always looking for new and exciting things to try.
Rituals
Rituals sound like a very strong word, mysterious and a bit spooky.
But they are just serious or actions you repeat to achieve something.
So something like making your bed in the morning can be a ritual for some.
The benefit of having a ritual in place can vary.
For some It helps them bring more awareness into their lives, appreciation, and even confidence.
If you don’t know where to start, creating a morning ritual is a safe bet.
Everyone wakes up and starts getting ready for their day, so its a perfect place to add in a small ritual.
Drawing
Drawing is such a wonderful form of expression and not many people take advantage of it.
You don’t need to be Picasso or anything, as long as you have fun with it.
Take me for example, everyone in my family has amazing drawing skills, yet I can barely draw stick figures.
But I personally enjoy it still. I love drawing simple trees and birds.
They remind me of the future house I want and exploring nature.
Though at times I can be a perfectionist.
Other Forms or Art
Now if you’re not into drawing there are still plenty of ways to express yourself.
There is limitless ways you can create a space where you can relief your anxiety.
Try creating music.
Many people listen to music because of its effects on stress and anxiety.
But maybe creating a song can help you relate and connect with others.
You can try pottery.
While I have never done pottery it is something that looks very interesting and enjoyable.
These are a few simple activities you can do.
But the point I’m trying to make is that there is nothing holding you back but you.
Don’t hold yourself back from just having good old fun, fun is universal and ageless.
Find Support
Sometimes we can’t do everything ourselves and it’s totally fair to get help.
Now, this isn’t always going to support groups or doctors, it can be spending time with loved ones and friends.
Maybe joining a club or group that have similar interest and goals for the group can be one of the best supports out there.
I would recommend staying away from social media groups as much as possible
Going outside and physically being present can have a major impact.
Social media has made it easier for people to connect, but at the same time its made it too easy to disconnect as well.
We want a real and tangible support group, people we can trust and rely on.
Book Clubs
Here is a great way to get social while teaching and learning.
I highly suggest getting two books, One “Panic Away” by Barry McDonough.
Two, “Play It Away: A Workaholic’s Cure for Anxiety” by Charlie Hoehn.
They are both experts in their field and the knowledge they provide for those experiencing anxiety and panic attacks is indispensable.
While both speak about changing your mindset, they each take a different approach to achieving this.
Charlie Hoehn focuses on taking action and giving yourself permission to play and do what you want to do.
That life isn’t all about work and feeling like crap.
On the other hand, Barry McDonough focuses on helping you break out of the cycle that has you stuck.
He teaches why many are stuck and how to break free.
Getting together with a group, learning and teaching each other what you learned is so much beneficial than reading alone.
I recommend you at least trying it once.
Cooking
I recently have been enjoying cooking, at times it can be a bit stressful.
But its worth cooking something delicious every now and then.
Food has been used to comfort many for centuries.
Inviting some friends over for dinner or even just having someone teach you a new recipe can be very rewarding.
This can be a great bonding time with loved ones, as well as one great stress reliever.
Cook healthy dishes and make it part of your self-care practice.
You can make it a weekly or biweekly thing, so its something to look forward to.
Gardening
Lastly, while this may only apply to those who have a space for gardening if you wish to try there are still options.
You can try your green thumb at growing and maintaining a small bonsai tree, or even small vegetables in pots.
Sometimes caring for something else can have uplifting effects on your mood and stress levels.
It also can bring life back into your living space with fresh greenery.