When I used to have panic attacks, the only thing that used to work for me was controlled breathing. There’s a bunch of different protocols one can follow, but the one I used at the time was circular breathing or something similar: in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. Think of a sorta squared circle. You can adjust those numbers for comfort, but rapid breathing quickly ramps up the response, so it’s important to short circuit that and establish equilibrium. Vagal breathing is similar and can also work well, I think that one is usually something like breath in for 3-4, breath out for 6-8. Again you can tinker with the numbers, you just want the ratio.
I practice these sometimes when I drive long distances, although that makes sense for me since my acute panic attacks developed randomly involving specific parameters on highways…
And of course: meditation. It will definitely help with this sort of thing if you can do it consistently. Unfortunately I’ve never figured that consistency part out, myself.
help
When I used to have panic attacks, the only thing that used to work for me was controlled breathing. There’s a bunch of different protocols one can follow, but the one I used at the time was circular breathing or something similar: in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold for 4. Think of a sorta squared circle. You can adjust those numbers for comfort, but rapid breathing quickly ramps up the response, so it’s important to short circuit that and establish equilibrium. Vagal breathing is similar and can also work well, I think that one is usually something like breath in for 3-4, breath out for 6-8. Again you can tinker with the numbers, you just want the ratio.
I practice these sometimes when I drive long distances, although that makes sense for me since my acute panic attacks developed randomly involving specific parameters on highways…
And of course: meditation. It will definitely help with this sort of thing if you can do it consistently. Unfortunately I’ve never figured that consistency part out, myself.