Resisting or fighting initial panic symptoms is likely to make them worse. It's important to avoid tensing up in
reaction to panic symptoms or trying to "make" them go away by suppressing them or gritting your teeth.
This doesn't mean “doing nothing” or being helpless in the face of panic, but rather thinking about your
coping in a different way:
• Face the symptoms-don't run from them. Calmly tell yourself “this will pass”, “I have been through
this before and nothing bad happened, it was just uncomfortable”, “I can allow my body to go through
its reactions and handle this, I’ve done it before”. These are helpful coping statements.
• Accept what your body is doing-don’t fight against it. Fighting it only makes you tense which
increases the anxiety and the intensity of a panic attack. Practice the attitude of letting go, allowing
your body to have its reactions. Try to step back and just observe yourself without judgement
without reacting to it with further fear or anxiety. Float with the wave of panic rather than trying to
force your way through it
• Allow time to pass. Panic is caused by a sudden surge of adrenalin and most of this adrenalin will
metabolize and be reabsorbed in three to five minutes. As soon as this happens, you'll start to feel
better. Panic attacks are time limited. In most cases, panic will peak and begin to subside within only
a few minutes. It is most likely to pass quickly if you don’t aggravate it by fighting against it or
reacting to it with even more fear by saying scary things to yourself.
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