Everything You Need to Know About Anxiety Attacks

Whether you are prone to anxiety or not, you should know what an anxiety crisis is and how to deal with it.

Since there is a great lack of knowledge about these anxious episodes, Today we have set out to correctly define the symptoms and causes of anxiety attacks. as well as propose some tricks and strategies to minimize its impact on the lives of people who suffer from it.

Table of Contents

Anxiety crisis: when panic takes over your body and mind

To begin with, anxiety attacks are sudden panic reactions frequently caused by several triggering factors.

Symptoms

The symptoms that a person suffering from an anxiety attack may present include: repeatedly touching the face, hyperventilation, chest pain, palpitations, sweating feeling of shortness of breath, shaking, feeling of lump in the throat, unsteadiness, panic, feeling of loss of control and numbness of the extremities.

What to do if I suffer an anxiety crisis?

Several psychological cues and strategies can help us catch our breath.

1. Breathing

If you suffer an anxiety attack while alone, we recommend counting the seconds with a watch, while placing your hands on your abdomen. Slowly, breathe deeply with your abdomen and focus on the mechanics of breathing.

2. Take distance from the source that generates anxiety

If you are with a person who is suffering from an anxiety attack, try to distance it from the source of anxiety if you know which one it is. Try to calm her down by applying breathing dynamics and encouraging her to follow your instructions: inhale and exhale slowly and calmly. Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Address him in a calm and confident tone. Never give him medication or any type of snack that contains caffeine.

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It is important to insist on the importance of abdominal breathing l.

3. A bag to prevent overventilation

If a minute passes and the person continues to hyperventilate and has stiffness in their hands and arms, we must let them know that we will put a bag nearby so that they can breathe into it, so that the discomfort goes away. We should not cover the entire face or head with the bag, simply make the person breathe inside it. It is preferable that it be rather small. From time to time, the bag can be removed from the mouth so that the affected person can breathe. Continue applying the bag until he feels better.

4. If things do not improve, you should call medical services

If it were the case that the person who is suffering the crisis had never suffered any episode before, or in the event that the person presents oppressive pain and constriction in the chest, sweating and altered breathing, it will be necessary to notify the medical services as soon as possible. hand. In this case, it is not advisable to make him breathe in the bag.

The anxiety crisis can stop relatively quickly, or persist for several minutes. In the latter case, and especially if the symptoms worsen, it will be imperative request help for medical emergencies.

Prevent anxiety

One of the best ways to prevent anxiety is to play sports routinely, perform breathing and relaxation techniques, maintain a healthy diet, sleep a minimum of eight hours a day and, if possible, control situations that may generate anxiety.