How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Control Panic Attacks

Summary: Go-to techniques to stop worrying and control panic attacks include giving up caffeine, proper breathing via meditation and practicing tapping.

Panic attacks may induce the screaming meemies, a flood of external and/or internal screams ~ "The Scream": 1893 oil on canvas by Edvard Munch ~ Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Breathing, diet, exercise, meditation and tapping can control panic attacks. Attacks can surface during emotional, mental, physical or psychological stress. My countermeasures work for me and may do so for others, no matter the stressor.

Panic attacks began during my university years. It confused me to experience 10 to 15 minutes of chest-tightening, ear-ringing, head and neck pains, lightheadedness, numbness, rapid heartbeats, shortened breath and trembling. But I found myself calm and relieved with the first panic attack's end. The attack occurred on a day of downing lots of coffee, eating helter-skelter, sleeping little, stage-frightening over surprise presentations, stressing over pop quizzes and worrying over changed research topic guidelines.

Nevertheless, I became concerned with the occurrence of several more attacks. Extending and reviewing knowledge always brought me such joy. So I enthusiastically committed to heavy study and work schedules. Previous over commitments never provoked such discomfort.

My medical history contradicted the need for medical intervention or therapy. It discouraged anxiety diagnoses or treatment. Instead, it revealed the consequences of childhood scarlet fever and current poor diet.

Before contracting scarlet fever, I enjoyed playing the clarinet. After my recovery, I lost interest in woodwinds and preferred keyboards and strings. Pursuing the clarinet may have made me aware of breathing from the chest, not the stomach. Chest breathing may make a body teeter into a carbon dioxide/oxygen imbalance in the bloodstream. The imbalance may result in dizzying, palpitating panic attacks.

Coffee, processed food and soda also had contributions to make. My parents preferred fresh, mineral- and vitamin-rich drinks and foods. For example, I never relied upon coffee and soda until college. It turns out that a body can have panic attacks from caffeine in coffees and teas and chemicals in processed food and soft drinks.

We decided to reconfigure my breathing away from the chest and my diet back to decaffeinated drinks and fresh foods. Family and friends directed me to exercising (particularly bicycling, jogging, walking), meditating and tapping. Practicing Andrew Quernmore's and Sharon Salzberg's styles of meditation helps me focus on breathing and imagining calm and peace (when I need them). Practicing New York Times bestselling author Nick Ortner's The Tapping Solution soothes mind, muscles and nerves.

Whatever provokes or treats panic attacks, it always helps to be kind to oneself. Proper breathing, eating, exercising, meditating and tapping lead to less anxious, stressed or worried bodies, emotions and thoughts, alone or along with other anti-panic interventions and therapies.

"Effects of moderate caffeine consumption": Mikael Häggström, Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

"The Scream": 1893 oil on canvas by Edvard Munch (December 12, 1863 - January 23, 1944), The National Gallery, Oslo, Norway ~ Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Scream.jpg

"Effects of moderate caffeine consumption": Mikael Häggström, Public Domain (CC0 1.0), via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Effects_of_moderate_caffeine_consumption.svg

For further information:

Ortner, Nick. 2013. The Tapping Solution: A Revolutionary System for Stress-Free Living. Carlsbad CA: Hay House.

Sharon Salzberg.
Available @ http://www.sharonsalzberg.com/

The Tapping Solution.
Available @ http://www.thetappingsolution.com/

Vipassana Fellowship.
Available @ http://www.vipassana.com/