Coping With Anxiety Attacks Naturally – 5 Natural Ways to Handle Anxiety Attacks
Article by John Cielo
In coping with anxiety attacks you first have to remember that they cannot harm you, and, always think and act positively. You should also seek professional medical help as soon as possible. When diagnosed with anxiety you’ll probably be given drug-based medication and perhaps some appropriate therapy as well. But more and more sufferers are using totally natural remedies for anxiety, because of the side effects that many of these drugs have. Here you’ll learn about coping with anxiety attacks without drugs.
What are anxiety attacks?
Anxiety attacks are just the body’s natural primeval response to a situation where it (wrongly) perceives you to be in danger. It then sets off a train of physical and mental bodily changes to help you either fight or run away to safety. This is called the body’s ‘fight or flight’. Because you are not aware of any immediate physical danger these changes confuse you, so that the symptoms they produce (see below) may lead you to totally believe you’re having a heart attack, or, about to die even.
What causes my body to think I’m in danger?
At the root is higher-than-normal levels of anxiety. With normal levels, a person faced with an everyday stressful event is able to handle it without too much problems because the overall increased anxiety levels are still within normal limits.
Someone with higher-than-normal general anxiety is already near the limit so that an everyday stressor can raise the overall anxiety level way over the limit. When this happens you’re unconscious mind perceives this as a dangerous situation and, rather than take any chances, switches to it’s ‘fight or flight’ mode.
What are the symptoms of an anxiety attack?
The most common symptoms are: hyperventilation, overwhelming panic, hot flashes / chills, heart palpitations, fear of dying, trouble breathing, dizziness, trembling, tightness in chest and throat, stomach cramps, choking sensation, sweating, nausea and a feeling of ‘detachment.’
Coping With Anxiety Attacks
Anxiety attacks usually peak within 10 minutes of their commencement, and, they rarely last more than 30 minutes. The key is to always remember that the symptoms are just your body’s reaction to a ‘perceived’ danger that isn’t there at all; a false alarm. They cannot harm you. Here are 5 natural ways of coping with anxiety attacks…
(1) THINK POSITIVELY
During an attack repeat to yourself that it’s a false alarm and that you aren’t having a seizure or heart attack. Take back control. Absolutely face the symptoms head-on by repeating that you know how they occur and that they will disappear. The more positive you are the quicker they’ll go away.
(2) TALK TO A TRUSTED FRIEND OR FAMILY MEMBER
If you can explain to someone you trust what you are feeling, their understanding and feedback can help a lot. By bringing out your emotions and feelings with a trusted friend or family member, you are unburdening your negative thoughts and feelings rather than keeping them to yourself and having them fester.
(3) RELAX BY USING CONTROLLED BREATHING
It’s important to relax as much as possible during an anxiety attack. This can be very hard to do because the symptoms are just so frightening. During an attack you will be breathing way too fast. This builds up oxygen and upsets the oxygen / carbon dioxide balance. By concentrating on slow, rhythmic breathing you’ll begin to slow your heartbeat, re-balance oxygen / carbon dioxide, relax tense muscles and calm your mind.
(4) EXERCISE DAILY
It should be no surprise to see this here. It is well known that daily exercise improves your body and mind. It has been proved that 30 minutes of good exercise daily can reduce stress and anxiety. And it can improve your immune system making you healthier, and, the healthier you are the less likely to fall pray to anxiety attacks.
(5) ELIMINATE YOUR ‘FEAR’ OF ANXIETY ATTACKS
Whether you are aware of it or not, your fear of having another anxiety attack is the one thing that is holding back your cure. This is because you fear is continually building on your high levels of general anxiety, driving you ever closer to the limit past which an anxiety attack can be triggered. In other words your ‘fear’ itself can cause you to have anxiety attacks. You need to get rid of your fear and break that anxiety cycle in order to prevent anxiety attacks in the future.
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