Sometimes a panic attack is caused by an underlying phobia or general anxiety disorder. Though the stop panic attack technique described below will probably work in this situation, if you’ve got nothing else to go on, it is situation, it is probably best to learn from a therapist how to deal with the underlying issue. Once that issue is resolved, the panic attacks should stop on their own.

If the cause of your panic attacks is generalized or unknown, or perhaps you don’t experience them frequently enough to seek medical or psychiatric panic attack treatment, this technique for stopping a panic attack can work for you.

First, the first step in this method to stop a panic attack is to try to relax. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? After all, if you knew how to relax, you probably wouldn’t be having panic attacks in the first place. Here, I mean that you should try to physically relax. Breathe slowly and deeply and sit down. Breathing slowly tells your mind that your body is calm, which means it stops sending panic signals to the adrenal glands. Already you have begun to stop the panic attack.

Next, try to halt your negative thinking. Tell yourself that you are just having a panic attack and that you are not in any serious danger. Tell yourself that you can and will stop the panic attack in a moment. Doing so gives you a sense of control, which helps you relax mentally.

Immediately replace your negative thinking with positive thinking. I’m not talking rainbows and kittens; flower power isn’t going to stop your panic attack. You need to think positive, assertive thoughts. You already started by telling yourself that you could stop panic attack, continue in that vein with thoughts like, “My fight or flight response works really well, I bet I could run a 4-minute mile or beat up ten men.” Try “I am not going to die, this is just a panic attack, and I know that I am healthy.”

At this point, you should have stopped the panic attack, but there is one important thing to do to stop future panic attacks. Acknowledge and accept that you’ve had a panic attack. Minimizing the experience will prevent you from fully confronting and dealing with whatever may be triggering your panic attacks, which will prevent you from getting proper panic attack treatment.

I hope this has been something that will help you stop a panic attack in the future.

Often times people think they are having a panic attack, so the term has become commonplace and quite overused. Real panic attacks have a very specific set of symptoms. When someone actually has a panic attack, you may at first feel as though it might be something a bit more serious.

Panic Attacks can cause you to feel that something is very wrong. You may think you have a medical problem as you may experience all or many symptoms like shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, pressure in the chest, and dizziness. It’s most common in a young person under stress, and even more common in women. You may even feel like you are having a heart attack because many of the symptoms are similar, but after ruling out a cardiac problem, it often turns out to be panic disorder.

While being under stress may trigger a panic attack, certain people are more predisposed to panic than others. It runs in families, and people with panic attacks often have a close relative with some sort of anxiety-related problem.

It can be a result of being traumatized, or a result of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. However, some people can be severely stressed and never get panic attacks, making it clear that some people are more biologically vulnerable to anxiety than others.

Sweating, shakiness, dizziness, feeling your heart pounding, getting nauseous, thoughts that you are going crazy or dying—these are all symptoms of a panic attack.

If you have had more than one panic attack in between attacks, you are worrying about having another one. Sometimes the fear and resulting debilitation is worse when anticipating the attack than when one actually occurs.

Breathe into a paper bag. Part of what brings on symptoms is breathing in and out too quickly which causes a high level of carbon dioxide to be present in your body, therefore resulting in tingly, sweating, flushing sensations. If you can slow down and breathe into a bag, you can help control the symptoms.