Notice: The following is presented for informational purposes only.
Assessment and treatment should always be directed through one-on-one
consultation with a trained professional.
This is one of my favorite questions and obviously one of the most
important ones for people who are trying to gain mastery over panic.
There are basically two options for what to do when you feel a panic
attack coming on. The first is to use a coping technique. The second
is to do an exposure. And yes, I will explain what coping techniques
and exposures are! But first, let's start off with my favorite
analogy:
The Demon Analogy
Panic disorder can be thought of as a demon. There are two ways to
fight this particular demon. The first way is to use your shield --
Using your shield means using medications (such as Xanax), leaving
the situation for a while to calm down, using relaxation techniques,
and/or talking back to your anxious thoughts to quite them down. In
the next part, I will describe these coping techniques in detail
including their pros and cons. But apart from your shield, there is
also a second way to fight this particular demon - it turns out that
every time you face the demon head on, he gets weaker. Each time you
challenge him, he gets smaller. That is where exposures come in to
play. Exposures involve turning the tables on the demon by jumping
him, challenging him, and saying "Bring it on. Is that all you've
got?"...

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