[THREAD] I want to revisit panic attacks. The reason why is because so many people are having to deal with them right now due to the pandemic and social climate. What are they and what can we do? Panic attacks are our body’s fight or flight response. A lot of adrenaline and other

hormones pump into our bodies to prepare us for a big danger to the point that they shift many things. Our palms become sweaty to have a better grip, blood flows away from our other organs towards arms and legs to bring more strength to our muscles, our breathing becomes shallow

to allow more oxygen into our muscles, our heart races fast and we get tunnel vision to focus on the target that is threatening. As you can see, in a real life dangerous situation, that edge can allow us to fight harder or run faster but the problem occurs when our brain

mistakes an abstract situation or a fear for a potential danger. It is truly an alarm system that doesn’t work well anymore. When it triggers that response and all the physical symptoms that can ensue, we may feel that we are about to die or go crazy because of all the changes

that happen. However, panic attacks are completely harmless. You won’t die from them, or go crazy. They are not going to mess up your body. It can be hard to tell ourselves that in the middle of one. However, there are certain things we can do to help us cope with a panic attack

as it occurs. The first important one is deep breathing. It allows us to shift away from the shallow breathing and forces our heart rate to go down. That means that the impact of the panic attack will be reduced. Another important one is time. Our bodies can’t sustain these

panic attacks for a long time. After 20/30 minutes, they peak and come back down automatically. However, the reason why panic attacks perpetuate is because we fear them. The more we fear one coming, the more likely it is to come back. Learning (through therapy) to stop fearing

them is essential towards preventing future ones from coming. Some people are also able to rationalize and stop fearing them outside of therapy. It is important to treat them early because repeated panic attacks lead to a brain fatigue, which then leads to depression and

dissociation. If you are experiencing panic attacks, even if it is just a few once in a while, go treat them with medication/therapy so that things don’t get worse psychologically. Panic attacks are highly treatable and you don’t have to continue living with them.