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When It Feels Like a Panic Attack

A field guide

A lookup for the moment itself — what to do first, then why it works — and what the cycle looks like from the outside.

Which is it?
Your heart is racing and you think something is medically wrongYou feel it starting and want to stop itIt passed, and now you're afraid of the next one
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When

Your heart is racing and you think something is medically wrong

Do

Sit or lean on something steady.
Make the out-breath longer than the in-breath. Six slow ones.
Name five things you can see. Out loud if you can.

Because

A panic surge tends to peak within minutes, then ease. What’s above may help it pass gently; none of it is needed for it to end. Chest pain that’s new, crushing, or spreading to the arm or jaw is different: call your local emergency number.
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When

You feel it starting and want to stop it

Do

Don't fight it. Fighting is fuel.
Say: this is a false alarm and it will pass.
Do something with your hands — cold water, a wall, the ground under your feet.

Because

The cycle is: a sensation → a frightening thought about the sensation → more adrenaline → a bigger sensation. The thought is the only link you can change. Not by arguing with it — by declining to believe it for two minutes.
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When

It passed, and now you're afraid of the next one

Do

Write down what happened and how long it actually lasted.
Do the ordinary thing you were about to do before it started.
Tell one person, plainly.

Because

Fear of the next attack is often what turns a bad afternoon into a pattern. Avoiding the place or the activity teaches the body the alarm was right. Returning teaches it the alarm was wrong. That is much of what recovery looks like.
The alarm is real. The fire is not.
If this is happening often, that is exactly what a therapist is for. This page is a hand on the shoulder, not a treatment.

This is a teaching, not treatment. If you’re struggling, a doctor or therapist can help. If you’re in danger right now, call your local emergency number or a crisis line (in the US, call or text 988).

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