What can I do before an anxiety attack?

Anxiety attacks are a reality as common as it is annoying. However, human beings are not totally unprotected against them.

In this article we will review some strategies and guidelines you can follow when you notice that you are having an anxiety attack.

• Related article: "What is anxiety: how to recognize it and what to do"

What is an anxiety attack?

An anxiety attack consists of the fact experiencing, for a relatively short period, significantly higher levels of anxiety than normal, to the point that in certain circumstances it can constitute a problem.

And on the other hand… What is anxiety? It is a set of physiological symptoms (that is, related to the automatic and unconscious biological mechanisms of our body, closely linked to the segregation of hormones) and psychological (that is, pertaining to our emotions, thoughts and behavior patterns) that predisposes us to be alert and have the ability to react quickly to the first signs that something is wrong or that we may miss a key opportunity to U.S.

Although we normally associate anxiety with an unpleasant experience, the truth is that it is part of the normal functioning of the human body; For hundreds of thousands of years it has helped us survive and adapt to the environment, and today it continues to do so even if our way of life keeps us away from the predators of the animal kingdom and we do not expose ourselves too much to the danger of being injured physically; It guides us towards solving urgent problems, it makes us have important aspects of the social interactions in which we participate in our “radar”, and so on.

However, no product of biological evolution is foolproof, and this is true of anxiety as well. Sometimes this gives rise to problematic behavior patterns that we internalize without realizing it, and it can even lead us to generate additional problems to those that are affecting us. For example, under certain circumstances, anxiety can contribute to not studying enough for an exam, by dint of postponing study sessions so as not to have to think about the day of the proof.

Something similar usually happens with anxiety attacks. Sometimes, our anxiety levels skyrocket for several hours making us have to deal with a challenge added to the one that has produced that emotional reaction.

To this we must add that sometimes we get very anxious without a specific trigger or easily identifiable cause. And this predisposes us to continue reinforcing the anxiety attack, as it is difficult for us to direct our actions towards the resolution of a specific problem beyond how bad we feel. By becoming obsessed with stopping feeling bad, we pay more attention to anxiety, thereby perpetuating those kinds of situations. making it difficult for us to return to a "resting" psychological state.

• You may be interested in: "Types of Anxiety Disorders and their characteristics"

Is it the same as a panic attack?

An anxiety attack is not exactly the same as a panic attack, although both phenomena involve a series of common physiological and psychological symptoms and it is common to confuse them between Yes.

In short, a panic attack is part of a psychopathologyWhile an anxiety attack is one of the ways we can feel anxious, somewhat completely natural and that does not have to entail the fact of having developed a psychological disorder diagnosable.

In addition, while panic attacks last several minutes and produce a very intense discomfort that goes hand in hand with radical alterations in the way in which the person thinks and perceives their environment, the anxiety attack is more variable in terms of its duration, although it tends to develop for a longer time and does not produce such intense symptoms, nor does it lead to such cognitive distortions. obvious.

Which brings us to the other big difference between panic attacks and anxiety attacks. In the former, the most common is that the person fears for his own life and is afraid of dying, even if there are no objective reasons to assume that he is in danger. For example, the person may believe that he is going to choke or have a heart attack despite not having symptoms.

So, for a few minutes, the panic attack induces us into a psychological state in which we believe that what we do can make the difference between life and death, and we perceive our body as something separate from us, that we cannot control and that is unpredictable (what is known as derealization). Anxiety attacks, on the other hand, are rather a quantitative alteration of anxiety levels that we experience on a day-to-day basis, and not so much a qualitative alteration of these; Although it can be part of a psychopathology, this is usually not the case.

• Related article: "Negative Automatic Thoughts: What They Are and How They Appear"

What to do before an anxiety attack?

If at any point you notice that you are beginning to develop symptoms of an anxiety attack, keep these tips in mind.

1. Excuse yourself or go to a quieter place

You don't have to be obsessed with looking for a site that offers you complete privacy and is totally silent, just go to a space that offers more calm than the one you are in.

2. Focus on your breath

When we feel a lot of anxiety, it is important not to let our mind lurch, because that way it will increase our feeling of loss of control and we will feed the psychological rumination, which exposes us time after time to a series of recurring stress-generating thoughts.

To achieve this, something that It is usually useful to focus attention on how we breathe, taking deep and slow inhalations and exhalations, without rushing. This repetitive task will help you to "readjust" your emotional state, and it will also prevent anxiety from leaving you with a lack of oxygenation of the blood.

• You may be interested in: "The 4 types of breathing (and how to learn them in meditation)"

3. Focus on the sensations of the here and now

During an anxiety attack It is recommended that you direct your psychological activity towards the physical sensations linked to the stimuli of the present, instead of getting lost in complex psychological processes associated with abstract thoughts. In this way you will “reset” and, from the acceptance of the here and now, you will be able to think clearly again without giving in to the inertia of fear, obsessions, etc.

That is precisely the purpose of objects such as elastic stress balls, although you do not need to carry an object of these characteristics with you. Just focus on what you touch, what you listen to, etc.

• Related article: "Mindfulness: 8 benefits of mindfulness"

Are you looking for professional psychological support?

If you notice that you suffer from anxiety problems too often or experience problems managing your emotions, please contact us.

On Cribecca Psychology We serve people of all ages and offer psychotherapy both in our center located in Seville and online by video call.