One of the problems with stress and anxiety is that it can build over time. If it continues to build over a number of days or weeks it can become very unmanageable. Of course on the flip side, one of the best things you can do to counter panic attacks is to experience something very positive where you aren’t stressed. If this happens enough the anxiety usually disappears. The cause of your anxiety may be directly related to the positive and negative things you experience each day. So one thing that can really help when you begin to feel stressed or that you may have a panic attack is to reduce your anxiety right away before it can build into something much more debilitating.
So, how do you reduce your anxiety right when you feel a possible panic attack emerging? The best thing you can do is occupy your mind on something else. Remember, if you do this before your anxiety is severe it may not be as difficult to reduce it. With that in mind, try to think about when and where your panic attacks are happening. Is it the same place and time each day? Is panic triggered by social situations, or perhaps a certain person?
If you can identify the cause of your anxiety you can then put together a few new techniques to counter panic when it is in its early stages. You will know your triggers and then can plan ahead what you will do when it happens.
As for the actually techniques, think about anything that you can do which doesn’t give you anxiety. Talking to a friend, getting busy with work, or anything else. Then think about the triggers that cause your panic attacks. Is there anything you can do to occupy yourself with something else? How can you take your mind off the anxiety? Let’s say you have problems during meetings at work. You could strike up a conversation with someone you know before the meeting and talk about something that is very low stress. Get a casual conversation going where you can laugh a little.
It may take a little planning ahead of time but you will be amazed at how effective it can be to eliminate panic attacks when you simply occupy your mind with something else. You can still do all the activities that you need to do, but you may approach some of them a little differently.