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Welcome to the Very Well Mind podcast.

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I'm Amy Moren, the editor-in-chief of

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Very Well Mind. I'm also a psychotherapist

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and a best-selling author of five books on

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mental strength. My newest book,

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13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do Workbook

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is now on sale. It's filled with

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mental strength building strategies, quizzes, and

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reflection questions that can help you become the

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strongest version of yourself. You

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can pick up a copy wherever books

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are sold. You're

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listening to the Friday Fix. Every

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Friday, I share a quick mental strength strategy

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that can help fix the thoughts, feelings, and actions

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that can hold you back in life. And

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the fun part is, we record the show from

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a sailboat in the Florida Keys.

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Before I talk about today's topic, I

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wanted to share something amazing with you. We

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won a Webby Award for the Best Health

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and Wellness Podcast episode of the year.

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There were something like 70 million podcast

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episodes released last year. So

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we're beyond thrilled that one of our episodes

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won. It's the episode

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where actor and the host of

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America's Got Talent, Terry Crews, shares

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his story with us.

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We're honored that he chose to do so

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because that's how we start breaking the stigma surrounding

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mental health issues, by talking about

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them. If you haven't

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heard that episode yet, check out episode 174, Break

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Free From Shame with actor and host Terry

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Crews. Thank you to everyone

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who's been supporting this podcast. Now

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let's dive into today's episode. Today

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I'm talking about panic attacks. You've

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likely heard someone say, oh, I had

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a panic attack the other day. You

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might've even had one yourself, or

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maybe you don't know if you've had one. There

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are a lot of misconceptions about what panic attacks

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are and how to deal with them. So

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I'm going to explain what a panic attack actually is,

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why they happen, and a really cool

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strategy that can help if you or someone

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around you is having one. Panic

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attacks are an intense fear that triggers

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physical responses in the body. People

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who experience a panic attack might experience

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symptoms like a racing heart, their

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hands might shake, they might get short of breath,

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they might have chills, or they might have hot

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flashes, they might say they're having

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chest pain, they might feel lightheaded, and they

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just might feel kind of numb in all of their limbs. I've

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had a lot of people in my therapy office describe

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really different symptoms, so those

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might not be the only things that you experience.

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One person will come into the office and say that they break

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out into a cold sweat and they struggle to see straight,

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or they feel like their room is going dark and their legs get

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weak. But

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someone else might come in and say that their heart starts

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to beat fast

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and they feel like they have this intense rush of energy

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and like they need to escape wherever they are.

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People with panic attacks experience a variety of emotional

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symptoms too.

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People will often say things like they

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are afraid that they're going to lose control,

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or they think they're about to die,

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or they are convinced that something bad is about

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to happen but they just don't know what it is.

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Other people say they feel detached from their bodies,

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and it's almost like they're watching themselves for

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a few minutes in a strange outer body experience.

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The one thing everyone seems to agree on

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is that the entire experience is terrifying

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and they never want it to happen again. Usually

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a panic attack only lasts a few minutes, like

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at most 10 minutes in length. But

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the thing about a real panic attack is,

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at least in the clinical sense, is that

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they come out of the blue. That

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means you might have one when you're walking around the store

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or when you're just sitting on your couch at home

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or maybe while you're at work. Some

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people only ever have one or two in their lives.

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Other people start having them a couple times a week. People

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who have them often become preoccupied

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with making sure that they never have another one. They

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might go to great lengths to win. avoid anything

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they can think of that might trigger a panic attack.

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I once worked with a woman who had a panic attack

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when she was dying her hair at home. It

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was the first one she'd ever had. She

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decided it was probably just a reaction to the hair

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dye, so she was never going to dye her hair again.

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But then she had another panic attack while she was in a

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store. That store happened to sell hair

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dye. So she thought maybe her reaction

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was so strong that just being near hair

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dye could trigger it. She

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stopped going to any store that sold hair

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dye. But then she had a

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panic attack in a movie theater. She

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thought maybe someone near her had dyed their hair,

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so she said I'll just limit my time in public. This

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went on for a really long time until she

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realized it actually wasn't a reaction to the hair

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dye. She just had a panic

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attack that happened at random times, and

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she tried to look for what those random times

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might have in common so that she could prevent another

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one.

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She was just really desperate, like most people are,

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to find out what the cause is so that she can

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be in control and make sure that it never happens

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again. But

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that's the thing about panic attacks. You

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can't prevent them from ever happening.

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There usually isn't a trigger. By nature,

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and by description, they come out

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of the blue to be a real panic attack. So

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when someone says, I got an email from my boss

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the other day saying that we needed to meet right away, and

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I had a panic attack,

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they probably didn't actually have a panic attack.

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They

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probably just experienced a lot of anxiety,

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but it wasn't out of the blue. It was because they got

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the email from the boss that caused them to feel anxious,

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something that would cause a lot of people to experience

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anxiety.

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Panic attacks aren't life-threatening, but

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a lot of people go to the ER for a panic attack

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because they think that there's something wrong with

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them physically, like they're having a stroke or

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a heart attack. In

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fact, the emergency room is a common referral

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source for many therapists.

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When the doctors decide it's not a physical health problem,

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they often send the patient for mental health.

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treatment if they decide that in fact it

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was a panic attack.

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Individuals with panic attacks usually

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respond really well to mental health treatment.

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Many people by the time they see a therapist

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though have what's known as a panic disorder.

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That's when someone has said several panic attacks,

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now they're living in great fear of having another one,

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and

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it's impacting their ability to function.

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They might have trouble going to work, having a social

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life,

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or just managing day-to-day activities.

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One of the ways we often treat panic attacks

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involves exposure therapy.

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That means slowly introducing people

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to the symptoms of a panic attack.

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Depending on someone's symptoms, it could

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include anything from breathing through a straw

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to mimic the shortness of breath

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that they have with a panic attack,

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or we might have them spin an office chair for a minute

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so that they feel a little bit dizzy like they might

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during a panic attack.

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We recreate the physical symptoms in

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a safe environment and then teach people healthy

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ways to cope. And

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then when people experience them in a safe setting

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they often become less afraid of it happening when they're

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out in public.

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When they're less afraid, they tend to think

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less about panic attacks, which

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usually makes them less frequent, but

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then they learn strategies for going about their daily

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lives without the constant fear of having another

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one. And then we often

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develop a plan for what to do if they have

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a panic attack when they're in the store, when they're driving,

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or when they're at work.

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There are lots of strategies, but

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I'm going to teach you the one that seems to resonate

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best with people, and

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it's called the 5-4-3-2-1 method.

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It involves using all your senses to

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bring you into the present moment.

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It's a grounding technique that helps you focus

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on what's happening around you and

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makes you less likely to start thinking thoughts

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that fuel a panic attack like,

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I'm about to die or everyone's staring at me.

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The good news is this trick isn't

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just for full-blown panic attacks. It's

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helpful whenever you experience anxiety.

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Here's how 5-4-3-2-1

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Start by focusing on five things you

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can see. Look around

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and name things that you see right now. You might

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think chair, carpet,

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shoes, water bottle,

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and clock. When

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you're doing that, breathe slowly

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and don't rush to find five objects. Instead,

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take your time and really notice

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the shape, the color, and

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the size of each thing that you see. Next,

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focus on four things you can touch.

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Touching something can help you stay right in the present

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moment so you aren't worried about what's going to happen

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next.

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Find four objects that you can touch.

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It might be a notebook, a pillow on the couch

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next to you, your water bottle, or

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even your own arm.

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Notice the texture of each of those objects.

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Are they sharp, soft, heavy,

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fuzzy? Just take a second

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to really touch those things and think about

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how each one feels. Then,

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focus on three things you can hear.

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Pause and notice what you hear right now.

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You might become aware that there's a fan

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that's making a noise, or maybe you can

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hear cars going by, or a clock

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that's ticking. Try

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to count three things that you're hearing.

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You might have to stay quiet for a little bit to actually

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hear those things.

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Focus really hard on those sounds.

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You might find that some of those sounds are comforting, like

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the sound of a fan.

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But other things might sound too loud, like

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you suddenly might be aware that the volume

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of the TV in the other room is really loud.

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Go turn it

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down. Notice which sounds you like and which

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ones you don't. Then,

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focus on two things you can smell. This

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can be a bit of a challenge depending on where you are,

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but it's a really good way to elicit certain

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emotions. Some smells

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might trigger causes. thoughts or happy memories.

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Others might trigger some discomfort, but

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either way it's okay. And your

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job is to find two things you can smell,

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which might be coffee or perfume,

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or maybe you notice something that someone's cooking outside.

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Take a minute to really notice those scents. Then

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find one thing you can taste. You

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can put a piece of candy in your mouth or take a sip

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of coffee. In fact, you might carry

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a piece of candy around with you for just this reason

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in case you're in a store when you have a panic attack. Tasting

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something can help bring you back to the here

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and now.

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If you're in a place where you can't reach for something to

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taste,

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just imagine yourself tasting something,

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like maybe your favorite flavor of ice cream.

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There's been a lot of stuff on social media lately

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about eating something sour when you have anxiety,

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like a sour piece of candy. That

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strategy actually works. If the candy

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is really sour, it distracts you

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from your worrisome thoughts.

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So those are five things you can do to get through

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a panic attack. Focus on five

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things you see, four things

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you hear, three things you

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can touch, two things you can

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smell, and one thing you can taste.

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The goal isn't to make all of your anxiety go

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away forever, but doing this can

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help you from having all sorts of catastrophic

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predictions,

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and it can keep you from doing things that fuel your anxiety,

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like just pacing back and forth. And

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it will help you tolerate the uncomfortable feelings

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that will go away. A panic attack won't last forever.

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Quite often, people learn not to panic

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about having a panic attack when they start doing this.

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They find a strategy that works for them to get through

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it,

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and then they gain some confidence that they'll be okay

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if it happens again,

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which often leads to less anxiety overall

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and fewer panic attacks.

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If you aren't sure if you're having a panic attack or

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you have a physical health condition, go

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to the emergency room and get checked out first.

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Once you've been medically cleared though, if

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you're told it's anxiety, talk to a mental

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health professional if you can. Anxiety

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disorders are one of the most treatable,

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yet undertreated conditions out there.

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If you know someone who could benefit from hearing strategies

12:19

to help manage panic attacks, share

12:21

this show with them. Just sharing a

12:23

link could help someone feel better and grow

12:25

stronger.

12:27

Do you want free access to my online course? It's

12:30

called 10 Mental Strength Exercises that will help you

12:32

reach your greatest potential. To

12:34

get your free pass, all you have to do is leave us

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a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

12:40

Then send us a screenshot of your review. Our

12:43

email address is podcast at verywell.com.

12:46

We'll reply with your all access pass to the

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course. Make sure to

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subscribe to us on your favorite platform so

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you can get mental strength tips delivered to you every

12:55

single week. Thank you

12:57

for

12:57

hanging out with me today and for listening to the Very

12:59

Well Mind podcast. And as

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always, a big thank you to my show's producer

13:04

who listens to music to stay calm,

13:07

Nick Valentine.