Anxiety Self-Care: The Top 10 Steps You Can Take To Stop Your Anxiety Attack And Calm Down Right Away

Do you regularly find yourself in the middle of severe anxious episodes during which you lose control? You may be dealing with anxiety attacks — sudden spikes in fear and worry that rob you of the ability to think of anything but the darkest corners of your mind. What are they, and what can you do to stop anxiety attacks and find peace again?

What is normal anxiety? What are anxiety disorders?

Anxiety can be defined as a worried, fearful anticipation. It is completely normal to experience this kind of mental stress, which can also manifest physically in the form of symptoms like a pounding heart, sleeplessness, or even increased blood pressure, occasionally. If you are feeling anxious as you prepare for a big exam, for public speaking, or for a medical appointment at which you could potentially hear scary news, this does not point to a mental health disorder. Your only diagnosis would be "human". 

Anxiety disorders — the most common mental health diagnoses in the US, impacting just over 18 percent of the population at any given time — take anxiety to the next level.

Rather than experiencing anxiety from time to time and in relation to circumstances or events anyone would be expected to be worried about, people with anxiety disorders:

• Suffer from anxiety on a chronic basis. Rather than subsiding on its own, the anxiety simply continues to plague people with anxiety disorders.
• Are impaired in their daily functioning and happiness because of the level of anxiety they experience.
• Often feel anxious even if there is no rational reason for the anxiety. 

The fifth edition of the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM-5) — a huge diagnostic handbook — recognizes a range of different anxiety disorders. People with generalized anxiety disorder feel fearful and worried about everyday situations, for instance, while social anxiety disorder causes profound fear of social situations, and agoraphobia leads to a crippling fear of open spaces.

What is an anxiety attack?

Unlike anxiety disorders, anxiety attacks are not defined in the DSM-5 — and, reading about anxiety attacks, you will quickly realize that not everyone is talking about the same thing when they use the term "anxiety attack".

Some — very notably the Anxiety and Depression Association of America — see anxiety attacks as identical to panic attacks, while others will say there is a difference between the two. Panic attacks are certainly characteristic of panic disorder, along with extreme anxiety about the possibility of having another panic attack, but anyone can experience a panic attack. 

Whether you want to try to identify possible subtle differences between panic attacks and anxiety attacks or not, the symptoms are unquestionably debilitating:

• Anxiety attacks can appear suddenly and strongly. 
• Your mental, emotional, or cognitive symptoms will include being overcome by extreme anxiety that leaves you non-functional. Someone experiencing an anxiety or panic attack will have lost control over their feelings and actions. They will feel trapped, and may feel like the situation is unreal and they're not really there (depersonalization and derealization, together known as dissociation). 
• Physically, someone suffering an anxiety attack may sweat excessively, feel their heart pounding, feel like they are choking, experience chest pain, feel dizzy or light-headed, and experience nausea. 

What can you do if you suffer from anxiety attacks or sudden extreme episodes of anxiety?

Severe anxiety, culminating in anxiety attacks, can both be the result of identifiable factors in your environment, or appear without any clear reason. Anxious episodes can, in other words, happen in people who would be diagnosed with anxiety disorders or other mental health disorders if they sought medical help as well as those whose anxiety has a completely rational cause.

In 2020, many of us have a lot to be anxious about — from COVID-19 to job loss, the future of our or our kids' education, and, in short, the future of humanity as a whole. For many, social isolation itself has also had a tangible negative impact on mental health. 

If you find yourself experiencing severe episodes of anxiety that might be seen as anxiety attacks, you can absolutely benefit from psychotherapy — if you can find the right therapist and have access to this kind of treatment. This is true whether your anxiety has a clear cause or not. You may also, however, try to take steps to stop an anxiety attack and calm down as soon as possible. 

These steps fall into two categories — short-term actions you can take to stop an anxiety attack, and lifestyle changes that are likely to reduce your anxiety across the board. 

To stop an already in-progress anxiety attack, you could try these five relaxation techniques for anxiety:

• Breathing exercises. Inhale deeply and slowly, through your nose, and exhale forcefully, through your mouth. You can purse your lips as you breathe out to slow your breathing down. Concentrate only on your breathing. Though breathing exercises may feel silly, research has shown that they can reduce your levels of the stress hormone cortisol quickly. 
• Acknowledging that you are experiencing an anxiety attack. Do not ignore the elephant in the room and attempt to wish it away. Remind yourself that the anxiety attack feels frightening, but it is neither life-threatening in itself nor does it change anything. These are your own feelings. Allow yourself to recognize they're there. If your anxiety is irrational and you are aware of it, tell yourself this, as well.
• Meditation. You can meditate in all sorts of ways. If you are new to meditation, try making a mental list of things you are grateful for, reminding yourself of past adversity you have successfully overcome, telling yourself you can overcome your current hardships, or even chanting a favorite poem, song, or Bible verse to yourself. 
• Progressive muscle relaxation. Starting at either your head or your feet, working your way through your whole body, systematically tense your each muscle you can and then gradually relax it. Progressive muscle relaxation is especially good for people whose anxiety keeps them up at night — you may fall asleep before you make it through your entire body.  
• Distracting yourself with a repetitive and mentally undemanding activity, like folding the laundry, taking a shower, doing some simple yoga poses, or even watching something silly on Netflix.

To reduce your anxiety levels more permanently and lower your risk of anxiety attacks, try if you can:

• Exercise regularly — any kind of physical activity can have a positive impact on mental wellbeing. 
• Make life changes to eliminate rational and alterable sources of anxiety in your life. Examples — during the COVID-19 pandemic, work from home if you can, and get groceries delivered rather than going to the store. 
• Frequently talk to people you care about and who care about you, whether in person or in other ways. Having a supportive social network can have a big impact on reducing anxiety. 
• Acknowledge that many people are experiencing the same kind of anxiety you are, if you are anxious about circumstances you are powerless to change such as the current pandemic. You are not in this alone.
• If you are religious, pray and participate in your faith community. If you are an atheist, find comfort in other things bigger than yourself, such as your family, nature, literature, or even an online discussion group.