What are good ways to stave off a panic attack?
Asked by
filmfann (
52487
)
March 14th, 2020
I have been in quarantine for 5 days on the ship, and 5 days on the AFB, and I can feel a panic attack building. Any ideas?
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30 Answers
Steal an f16 and fly around a bit.
Meditate. There are many guided meditations on YouTube.
Give one a try. You might find that you like.
Exercise. Did you test positive or just know you were exposed?
I dug my iPod out of my medicine box, and the music is helping.
Maybe some Hawaiian music??
Simple grounding exercises, repeated as often as needed. Here are three:
1) Find five visual, four auditory, three tactile, and two olfactory sensations. Then add one more for your taste buds – take a sip of tea, or really taste a piece of chocolate.
2) Count the different colours in your surroundings.
3) Create a peaceful place in your mind. What can you see? Are there people around, or animals? Are you seated, or lying down? What’s the weather like? Can you hear the wind or the rain? Are you outside, or inside? Imagine a comforting smell and the taste of a favourite food. If it’s too difficult to create your space without help, try this recording.
If it’s people that are stressing you out, it can also help to imagine you’re just watching them, as if they were on a TV screen.
Good luck.
Go outside, even if it’s raining for a little while.
Deep breaths in and out slowly physiologically slows the panic.
Remember your friends and loved ones are all out here supporting you.
Read?
Count three things you are grateful for each morning. Remember them through out the day.
I’m so sorry you’re stuck in the middle of all of this. :(
First, I think just recognizing the signs of having a panic attack may already be helpful.
Longgone’s suggestion to do the 54321 grounding technique is helpful. Or lucillex3’s suggestion to follow along to a meditation on YouTube. And 478 breathing technique.
We’re with you, buddy.
Pull up games on your phone. I do lots of puzzles.
I sent you a link for beginner tai chi. Use it.
It is my link on your part two question.
Hey, I run a server with about a billion tv shows and movies on it. If you have a internet connection there fast enough to stream video send me a PM and I can hook you up. Or I can send you links to download files directly so slower connections would work.
I can add pretty much any, tv, movie, or music you want.
Put it in perspective. You are doing good enough to be able to come onto Fluther, so you aren’t completely gone. And just remember…this will pass. In fact, you should be just about past it. I believe 2 weeks is the time frame and you have already done ⅔ of that.
Just because they do their two weeks doesn’t automatically make them immune to the virus. They get out and go home and they can still get it…and probably will.
Princess line is trying to limit their liability so they can say “They didn’t get it from us!”
Was confined against my will for two weeks years ago for an entirely different reason. What helped against panic attacks was reading. I read all of the Game of Thrones books and I think there’s one I even finished in just one day!
After doing what I needed to do and doing all I could do for the day…I make a conscious and determined effort to transport myself somewhere else and be concerned about someone else’s troubles for a while. Reading helped me achieve that.
I try to breathe, listen to music, do art, draw, etc. If none of that works I just ride it out and let myself go through the motions of panic. Then sleep. Do you like to do mindless things or do you like to focus on things when feeling this way? That can help you decide what to do.
Do you have TV? Internet? Lap tops?
What is your favorite movie or series? Can you do a marathon session? You are filmfann for a reason.
We’re here for you. Sometimes venting is all you need. :)
Change your thoughts. Identify things to do and things to contemplate that will change your focus in the moment when you can feel your anxiety building. Being prepared with those things, rather than having to come up with them in the moment of anxiety. You really can switch on and off emotion if you get into practice with it. Think about it, you probably have experienced being just fine, and then someone says something and suddenly you are triggered. You can trigger good feelings too, not just bad ones. Still, that is not always possible. A panic attack is like a cascade of physiological events, that once in motion there is almost not way to stop it, you have to try to calm the anxiety before it gets to that point. Not so easy.
Some people says breathing exercises help. If I am getting stressed I do find that a few deep breaths help me. I also am pretty good at clearing my mind when I do that.
Better today. 9 days to go.
Get exercise and fresh air.
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