If you suffer from anxiety then you are probably familiar with panic attacks. For those lucky enough not to ever have had a panic attack or indeed not even know what they are then allow me to elaborate. A panic attack is an intense period of anxiety that is particularly disabling and frightening. During a panic attack the person suffering from the panic attack will typically experience an increased heart rate, feel short of breath, sweat, shake, have chest pains and feel like they are going to die of a heart attack. Panic attacks are often short and last no more than 10 minutes. Over the 20 years or so when I was suffering from anxiety, I had hundreds of episodes of crippling panic attacks, all of which were very unpleasant and not to mention physically painful!
I remember at one particular digital marketing agency I worked at (the name of which will remain anonymous) I was having around 3 or 4 panic attacks a day. I was emotionally and physically exhausted from the constant tension in the office. I was being bullied on daily basis by my immediate superior which was the root cause of my anxiety. I felt totally lost lonely and scared, feeling totally trapped with no way out. I eventually decided to leave after a particularly unpleasant altercation with the manager where I was sworn at across the office in front of other people. Since leaving my anxiety improved significantly.
So how can you kill at panic attack and stop it right in its tracks? Well there is one technique that I have developed that strangely enough I discovered whilst having my hair cut at the barbers one time. Allow me to elaborate, I used to get panic attacks as a teenager when I went to the barbers, as I used to feel so self-conscious when having my hair cut and being asked loads of questions by the woman cutting my hair, even though this mainly consisted of small talk. I remember once being asked by the hairdresser if I wanted a glass of water as I went a pale colour, I really used to hate having my hair cut! To diffuse the situation, I developed a technique call the diversion technique. So basically, when I felt a panic attack coming on, I focused on a particular object whilst I was sitting in the barber chair, maybe something directly Infront of me in the barber chair such as a comb. I would then stare at it and really focus on the shape of it, thinking deeply about the texture of the object and what it was made of. The idea behind this was that my mind would be focused on something else rather than the panic attack. This technique worked as the panic attack would be stopped in its tracks. I then security that I had a weapon that I could use to help defeat my anxiety head on! So next time you are suffering from a panic attack try this, it sounds too simple to be effective but it really is. Remember focus your mind on any object not connected with what you perceive is causing the panic attack. Try it and kill those panic attacks!
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