my notes for Panic Attack, Agoraphobia and Activating the Parasympathetic Nervous System
disclaimer: i am NOT a professional. this post is not medical advice or any type of advice. this is just a collection of experiences that i gathered around the internet and wanted to write them down for myself. seek help from a professional if needed
disclaimer two: all of the advice and experience that is shared here are from their rightful owners
for panic attacks
>eat or drink something
>eat something sour (like bite a lemon)
>hands in ice cold water, icepack on chest and neck/squeeze ice in your hands/splashing cold water to abdomen, ice cold cloth on the neck and wrists
>cold exposure
>submerge your face in a bowl of ice water for 20-30 seconds, triggers dive reflex
>smell something strong
>change the the color of lights or dim them
>turn on white noise
>move your eyes to the far right, far left, back and forth
>breathing exercises (diaphragmatic breaths)
>progressive muscle relaxation>go on a walk/run
>5-4-3-2-1 method/five senses techique
>count back from 100 by 3's
>hum, you wont think while humming
>use positive statements
>use thought stopping techniques
>grounding exercises
>look around and identify shapes, colors, texture, numbers, words
>read aloud
>do math in your head
>count the steps you are taking
>go for a walk and deeply breath as you are walking
>sit on the ground
>lay on the side away from your heart so stop focusing on it
>spell words backwords
>force yourself to smile
>stare at something moving
>acknowledge the panic, pay attention to your surroundings, talk to people or do something that will distract you. the panic will end by itself
>Understand the explanation of the symptoms and why you get them. When you identify the early symptoms of panic, dont try to stop all of them. It will take some time for your body to metabolize adrenalin. Dont fight your symptoms, accept them. Make your body learn panic attacks are not dangerous.
for agoraphobia
"only leave when you want to, not your anxiety."
>pick yourself a safe space that you can go to when you get a panic attack. the more you get used to go outside, choose a safe space that is more far and far away. You can see your phone as a safe space on its own.
>call your friends or family for support and to distract yourself
>exposure therapy with a reward in the end
>Generally with agoraphobia the first goal is symptom management (managing the panic, fear) and then breaking the cycle of negative reinforcement through the safety/avoidance behaviours. However, once the panic is managed and you arenāt in crisis mode anymore, that is the time to start working on addressing some of those others issues that might be underlying the agoraphobia and contributing to the panic-avoidance cycle
1) Sit cross legged on the ground (sit on a block to raise your pelvis if your knees need it). Make sure you have good posture with shoulders down and back
Turn your head as far as you comfortably can to one side and with your eyeballs look as far as you can over that shoulder. Take 3-5 deep relaxing breaths while the head is turned and your eyes are looking as far into your peripheral corner as comfortably possible. Do the same on the other side
Then when you come back to center, try to yawn, swallow, or sigh and it activates your vagus nerve/parasympathetic rest and digest
2) Using peripheral vision activates parasympathetic NS. If we are staring/focussing very intently on something right in front of us, evolutionarily itās often a threat or something survival related that requires attention. āDeconcentratingā the focus and widening the awareness to the peripherals sends a message to relax
3) Sit on a chair with feet on the ground for 30 mins each session. Feel my pelvic floor. Actively tighten and relaxing it for 30 mins. Put all of your awareness to it. Negative feelings/memories will come up. Cry and release traumas but continue to tighten and relax your pelvic floor
