How to Panic

How to Panic

Did you know that you can induce an anxiety state? Your child can do it too. And sometimes it helps to know that you can control this process — if you can make anxiety happen, perhaps you can understand it better and help it go away.

Here are some instructions for improving your chances of having a genuine panic attack:

1.)    Breathe in a shallow and rapid manner. In other words, hyperventilate.

2.)    Scan your body for anything that doesn’t feel quite right. It’s especially useful if you can notice some tightness in your chest, but other body parts can do the job quite well. For instance, perhaps your stomach doesn’t feel well, or the back of your throat feels funny. Remember, if you have a strange feeling, or any feeling at all, there is a reason—and it’s probably not a good reason, either.

3.)    Now, take those feelings and use your imagination. Think of the worst thing that could happen. Consider that you might die, have a heart attack or throw up in school. Be sure to think hard about these possibilities and how frightening they are.

4.)    If you have ever had these feelings before, try to forget that they eventually went away. Try to imagine these feelings as being worse than anything that has happened before.

5.)    Hope for a quick fix.

For more straightforward reading on this topic, I would recommend Reid Wilson’s book Panic for adults, and Tamar Chansky’s Freeing Your Child From Anxiety for dealing with children.