Preventing Anxiety Attacks

Feeling restless, increased nervousness, and worry is common with anxiety attacks

Anxiety attacks can be really uncomfortable and it can be hard to find helpful things to reduce these feelings. It is important to understand the symptoms of an anxiety attack so you know which coping skills might be most helpful to use. Before jumping down to the 5 tips, think about how your anxiety attacks impact you and what are some of the most distressing symptoms you experience.

I am a therapist in Wilmington, NC and provide therapy for stressed and anxious women. I specialize in anxiety treatment, treatment for perfectionism, therapy for imposter syndrome, and burnout counseling. My Wilmington, NC counseling practice offers online anxiety therapy appointments to anxious high achieving entrepreneurs located in Maryland and North Carolina.

If you are ready to start working to treat anxiety attack symptoms, learn how to get started in therapy or schedule your free 15 minute consultation.

How to get started in therapy

Schedule My Free 15 minute Consultation

What is an Anxiety Attack?

Anxiety attacks can be exhausting and leave you feeling overwhelmed. An anxiety attack is often brought on by experiencing something that is believed to be very stressful. Anxiety levels can very and someone may experience mild, moderate, or high levels. An anxiety attack is also not the same as a panic attack. Although there are some similarities there are a few key differences.

To learn more about difference between an anxiety attack and a panic attack, check out this blog post on Anxiety Attacks versus Panic Attacks.

Anxiety Attack Symptoms

Anxiety attack symptoms can vary but these symptoms are the most common reported:

Increase heart rate
Sweating
Shortness of Breath
Difficulty concentrating
Feeling Weak
Heightened Worry
Nervous
Feeling Restless

5 Ways to Calm Your Anxiety Attack

The 5 strategies listed below are some of the go-to skills and strategies I regularly talk with my clients about when they are experiencing higher levels of anxiety. These can be utilized to help prevent anxiety attacks.

1st Way To Calm Anxiety: Pick An Object To Focus On

Choosing to focus your attention on an object and “study” it as if you have never seen it before is a good way to bring your attention back to the present and shift your mental energy away from an emotional response you may be experiencing. Allow yourself to try and place all your attention to the object and thoughts completely directed on the object. Notice the weight, color, sound, and etc. This is a great mindfulness activity to practice regularly.

2nd Way to Calm Anxiety: Go For A Walk

Get outdoors and go for a walk or a hike. Explore new areas you’ve never been to before.

Doing some light exercise can be helpful as a good distraction when your anxiety is high. Going for a walk is also a great way to incorporate mindfulness practices as well. It is proven that engaging in physical activity is a mood booster and exercise can reduce anxiety. Exercise releases endorphins, the body’s natural feel good chemicals.

3rd Way to Calm Anxiety: Name That Feeling

Simply being able to call out the feeling that has ahold of you can reduce its power. So often we work really hard to avoid uncomfortable feelings that we do not like and stuff them away. Most times this tends to make the feeling seem a lot bigger or intense. Being able to acknowledge and accept the feeling of anxiety makes coping with anxiety much easier.

4th Way to Calm Anxiety: Take A Breath

Deep breath in and back out. Breathing techniques are almost always encouraged to help reduce anxiety and for good reason. Intentional deep breathing sends messages to your brain telling your body to relax.

There are many different breathing techniques to use and most often I encourage my clients to start with a diaphragmatic exercise.

The easiest way to know if you are breathing from your chest versus diaphragm is to place a hand on your chest and the other on stomach whichever hand rises is where your breathing is taking place. Next, take a deep breath in through the nose and allow the hand on your stomach to rise (diaphragm breath). Then, slowly exhale through your mouth noticing your hand on your stomach going down again. Lastly, repeat exercise as needed.

5th Way to Calm Anxiety: Imagine A Fish Tank

Ok, so this sounds strange right? I use this imagery and metaphor a lot with my clients when teaching about basic mindfulness skills. I encourage my clients to become observers of their own fish tank (mind and body). The idea of mindfulness is being present without judgement and accepting what is happening. Imagining your thoughts, feelings, and behavior urges as fish going by simply as that and as many times as possible. Meaning just because a feeling, thought, or urge is present does not mean we have to react or “go down the rabbit hole” and follow the anxiety producing thought.

BONUS: If you have an actual fish tank to watch fish swim around. Studies have shown it can help increase calm and relaxation while reducing blood pressure.

Therapy For Anxiety Attacks

There are a lot of different strategies and techniques that can be used in anxiety treatment for anxiety attacks. This also applies to therapy modalities. Most common therapy approach is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or referred to as CBT.

At Calm Waters Counseling, anxiety treatment approaches include CBT for anxiety, ACT for anxiety, and using mindfulness techniques. I find these approaches to be most useful, beneficial, and collaborative with my clients.