If you’ve ever had a panic attack, you’ve likely wondered how to stop an anxiety attack fast.

Anxiety attacks can be scary. Many of my clients tell me that they are afraid that they are "going crazy" or "losing control".

I’m a therapist for anxiety, and I help clients who struggle with regular panic attacks find their way back to calm again.

In this post, I’ll cover some of the common causes of panic attacks and how to stop anxiety attacks fast.

The sweating, shaking, racing heart and shortness of breath that accompany panic episodes can leave you feeling out of control and drained.

Though these feelings and sensations are uncomfortable, they are symptoms that are typical of panic episodes, and they will pass. Approaching anxiety with fear or dread will only make symptoms worse.

Understanding what a panic attack is will help reduce fear AND give you the keys to stopping your panic attack as quickly as possible.

What is Anxiety?

First, let’s talk about what anxiety is. Put simply, anxiety is the anticipation of a present or future threat. When we worry, our fight or flight system is turned on and we experience anxiety.

Anxiety usually has two forms: physical and mental. Mental anxiety can look like worrying, fear of making the wrong choice, thinking the same thought over and over again, difficulty focusing, or constant thoughts about what might happen in the future.

Physical anxiety can look like a racing heart, sweaty palms, shortness of breath, dizziness, tense muscles, flushed skin, or a skin-crawling feeling.

You can experience physical and mental anxiety independently or together. This means that you can “feel” anxious without having any anxious thoughts, and you can have anxious thoughts without having any physical symptoms.

What is an Anxiety Attack?

Anxiety attacks or Panic attacks typically occur when you experience intense physical symptoms of anxiety. These physical symptoms might be connected to anxious thoughts, but often clients tell me that they occur “out of the blue”.

When you have an anxiety attack, your mind and body perceive a threat in the environment that you may not be conscious of and fire up all of the systems necessary to meet that threat. Without a needed outlet for that energy, your body and mind experience that excess energy as a panic attack.

If you’ve never had a panic attack before, it can be really scary and unsettling. Many people go to the emergency room because they are concerned that they are having a heart attack.

Because anxiety attacks have physical and mental causes and symptoms, it’s essential to use tools that tackle both issues. To fully treat anxiety attacks, you need to focus on (1)body, (2)mind, (3) and lifestyle interventions. Below are strategies that will help you stop an anxiety attack fast.

Ways to Stop an Anxiety Attack Fast

The Body

Calming the Breath to Stop an Anxiety Attack

When you have an anxiety attack, your body goes into fight or flight mode. One of the best ways to take your body back into rest and relaxation is to focus on calming the breath.

One of my favorite exercises is something called four-square breathing. If you look around you’ll see some type of a square or rectangle. It might be a photo, door, window, or computer.

All of these squares can be used as a guide to controlling your breath. To do this exercise, start at the lower left-hand corner of a square and breath in slowly until your eyes reach the top of the square. Hold your breath as you look across the square and breathe out slowly as your eyes look down the opposite side of the square. Your eyes will end up in the lower right-hand corner. Hold your breath as you look across and begin the process again as you start to inhale next to the lower left-hand corner.

You can do this over and over until you feel your breath naturally becoming calmer.

The Pretzel

The pretzel is a quick and easy tool you can use almost anywhere to stop an anxiety attack. Start by sitting in a comfortable position. Cross your dominant leg over your non-dominant leg at the ankles. Extend your arms at shoulder level with your thumbs down and the back of your hands facing one another. Cross your dominant arm over your non-dominant arm so that your palms are touching. Flip your hands under so that your elbows are by your side and your hands are crisscrossed under your chin. Close your eyes or soften your gaze and take slow, deep breaths. Focus on making your exhale longer than your inhale. Do this for two minutes or as long as you need to calm your anxiety.

This pose works to stop anxiety in several ways.

First, deep slow breathing helps calm the nervous system and sends signals to the body that it is safe and calm. Rapid shallow breath is usually tied to the intense effort (think running from a bear or fighting with an opponent). Deep, calm breath is associated with relaxation. Using the body and the breath to signal the brain that you are not in danger can help decrease panic signals.
Second, the pretzel twist of this pose helps balance the body and the brain by stimulating alternate sides of the body at once which is very calming.
Finally, concentrating on twisting yourself into this pose shakes up your thought process and helps you concentrate on the pose instead of the anxiety itself.

As with most techniques, the Pretzel will work best if you practice this before you have a full-blown anxiety attack. Getting familiar with the pose ahead of time will help ensure that you will use it when you need it the most.

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

In fight or flight, your body prepares you to fight or flee --- it’s all in the name people :).

It forces blood from your internal organs and out to your extremities to prime muscles to work. That’s why you will feel hot or flushed face because there is a lot more blood near the skin.

So you can get yourself back into rest and digest by systematically squeezing and relaxing your muscles. It reduces muscle tension and is a great mindfulness practice too. You can start at either end of your body and tense and release each muscle group.

It feels great, and it gives your mind a task to focus on.

The Mind

Calming Thoughts

So as I said at the top of the post, anxiety is “anticipation of a future threat.” We often have thoughts like, “Oh No! What will happen?” “Oh No! What does this mean?” “Oh No! I’m going crazy!” Anxiety attacks can often be triggered by worries about anxiety.

One major way we can deal with anxiety is to manage our thoughts related to anxiety and address thinking errors and false beliefs specific to anxiety.

For example, for many years when I felt anxious I would have the thought. “This is terrible. I can’t deal with this.” I would also have thoughts like “This is going to be so bad, I won’t be able to handle it” or “I’m going to be miserable” or “What if I have a panic attack” or “This is unbearable.”

I would say those things to myself over and over again.

These are simply beliefs that I had about anxiety, but I treated them as if they were facts. This perpetuated my anxiety and honestly made the situation worse.

Here are a few more helpful thoughts you can use to stop an anxiety attack fast.

“Am I in physical danger?” “I am not in danger. I am simply experiencing anxiety.” “I am capable of handling any feeling.” “Anxiety is a feeling and it will pass.”

Remind yourself (as many times as you need to) “I am capable of feeling anxiety.” “This is uncomfortable, but I can cope.” “I don’t have to fight this. It will pass.” “I can support myself at this moment.”

Remember, what you think has a direct effect on how you feel. The more that you can remind yourself that you are safe and capable of managing any feeling, the more quickly your anxiety attack will pass.

Gentle Distraction

Sometimes, dealing with your thoughts head isn't practical, or there are too many thoughts coming at once and you need some relief or a break. You can distract yourself (temporarily) with a technique called grounding.

These are a few of my favorite grounding exercises

1. Choose a color and name as many things in the room that are that color.

2. Pick one thing and describe it in detail without judgment. For example, you’d look at a photo of the beach and say, “It’s a beach scene with 15 striped umbrellas and 5 solid umbrellas. I can see four people and two are in black bathing suits….. etc”

3. Choose an object that you can pick up and describe its texture, shape, color, weight, etc.

4. If there are words in your space, start at the end of the word or phrase and name each letter. "Nervous" would sound like "S" "U" "O" etc.

5. Pick a category of things and name as many of those things as possible: For example, think of places you want to travel, capital cities, sports teams, fonts, and types of dogs.

The point is to give your mind something concrete and boring to focus on to draw your attention away from what you are worrying about.

Long term, it’s better to address the root cause of the worry and anxiety, but when you’re having an anxiety attack, distraction through grounding is a great way to address the issue quickly.

Lifestyle

The third and final strategy for stopping an anxiety attack fast is to make changes to your overall lifestyle.

Admittedly, this intervention is focused on prevention rather than dealing with anxiety in the moment, but it’s an essential part of controlling anxiety long term.

Maintain a healthy diet: Studies have shown that diet can have a major impact on how we feel. Focus on eating enough food in as much variety as possible. Some people find that a diet that focuses on balanced blood sugar helps them avoid symptoms that may trigger an attack.
Exercise: Regular mild to moderate exercise will help improve your overall health and moderate stress.
Get a Good Night’s Sleep: Chronic sleep deprivation can contribute to higher baseline anxiety and increased panic attacks. Check out this blog post on How to Stop Overthinking at Night for more on this topic.
Reduce stress: I know that this piece of advice is given so often it’s hard not to roll your eyes. The thing is, it’s given often for a reason. If you’re reading this article, I’m betting that you have a pretty full plate. Learning mindfulness techniques, setting appropriate boundaries, and learning how to manage thoughts related to stress will go a long way toward helping you reduce the impact of stress in your life.

Get Personalized Support to Stop Anxiety Attacks

If you’re in Asheville and want support with stopping anxiety attacks, I can help. Schedule a free consultation today to discover how working with me can help you finally start enjoying a panic free life.

“How to Stop an Anxiety Attack Fast”

What is Anxiety?

What is an Anxiety Attack?

Ways to Stop an Anxiety Attack Fast

The Body