Psychologist explains: What really helps with a panic attack – according to the expert

Why? We ask ourselves this question constantly. It also often arises in the case of mental health problems and disorders. Why do you have these dark thoughts? Why aren't you eating? Why are you even drinking alcohol? Why are you suddenly panicking?

It is usually important and helpful for those affected to clarify their personal why during the course of therapy. However, this question is rarely suitable for alleviating acute symptoms at the beginning of treatment and capturing their effects on life, body, and everyday life. It is not for nothing that addiction treatment usually begins with withdrawal, eating disorder therapies with a nutrition plan and weight control, and in the case of depression, therapists examine whether antidepressants could be a first step that would enable those affected to begin their path to healing. For people with panic disorder, one thing is particularly important in the acute phase before they determine their why, says psychologist and panic patient Klara Hanstein: Learning how to react in the event of a panic attack.

"When I began therapy for my panic disorder, from the very beginning it was primarily about the causes – my family history, childhood experiences, all the things that could have triggered my problems. And I sat there and had one panic attack after another," says Klara Hanstein. Based on her own experience, as a therapist, she generally focuses on teaching those affected methods that give them back a measure of security and control when panic rises within them – and in this case, that doesn't work with logic, reason, affirmations, or willpower, but through the body. "During a panic attack, our organism is under extreme tension, and our focus is on survival," says the psychologist. "Our first concern in such a moment must be to calm our nervous system."

The best way to signal to the nervous system that everything is okay is to concentrate on breathing and control it purposefully. "My simplest breathing exercise, which I've followed for months and which has helped me a lot, was always to breathe calmly in through my nose and then breathe out through my mouth for as long as possible," says Klara Hanstein. Starting with calm breathing, our body can relax and switch from emergency mode to standby: Our heart rate stops racing, muscles relax, and any sweating subsides. And: We can think more clearly again and assess our situation more rationally.

As an alternative or in addition to conscious breathing, the psychologist says it can be helpful to practice relaxing the muscles – especially in the neck and shoulder area. "I've often noticed, for example, when I was sitting in a restaurant and felt like I was about to have a panic attack, how my shoulders and neck tightened," says Klara Hanstein. "And then it helped me to consciously let my shoulders hang and stretch and loosen my neck a bit."

In general, in the initial phase of treatment for panic disorder, it's important for those affected to reduce fears of attacks and develop the courage and self-confidence to endure them if necessary. "Avoiding any situation in which panic could occur significantly and usually increasingly impairs quality of life," says the psychologist. Trying to fight an attack, on the other hand, usually increases tension in the body and therefore rarely leads to success.

Of course, especially at the beginning, not every situation is suitable for confronting panic and managing it through targeted and practiced communication with one's own nervous system – breathing and relaxing. In the stress of everyday life, when one is exhausted or angry, it can be wise to choose to flee from an attack rather than face it. However, in order to move forward, to free oneself and ultimately to come to terms with one's own why and wherefore, those affected usually need the experience – repeated over time – that their fear and panic cannot harm them, that in extreme cases they can even be endured. Ultimately, fears and panic attacks, like all the signals our soul sends us, are indications that and how we can make our psychological processes and our lives healthier. Once we have found our admittedly often hidden and exhausting way of dealing with them, we can benefit from it.

Brigitte