Panic attacks are intense, overwhelming, and frightening. When one hits, it can feel as though something is seriously wrong with your body or mind, even if you have experienced panic before. People often describe feeling trapped, out of control, or convinced that something terrible is about to happen.
If you are searching for how to handle a panic attack, you are likely looking for immediate relief. That makes sense. Panic feels urgent.
What is important to understand is that handling a panic attack effectively for the long term is not about making the anxiety disappear instantly. It is about responding in a way that prevents panic from escalating and teaches your brain that these sensations, while deeply uncomfortable, are not dangerous.
The strategies below are not random coping tricks. They are grounded in how panic works in the body and nervous system. When used consistently, they reduce fear, shorten panic attacks, and over time can lead to fewer attacks altogether.
What Is Actually Happening During a Panic Attack?
A panic attack is a surge of the body’s fight-or-flight response. The brain misinterprets a sensation, thought, or situation as a threat and releases adrenaline. That adrenaline causes physical symptoms such as a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, chest tightness, nausea, sweating, or a feeling of unreality.
The symptoms themselves are not harmful. They are the same physical responses your body would have if you were running from danger. The problem is that during a panic attack, there is no real threat to run from.
What keeps panic going is fear of the sensations themselves. People notice a sensation, interpret it as dangerous, and become hyperfocused on stopping it. That fear feeds the adrenaline response, which intensifies the symptoms, which then increases fear even more.
Understanding this cycle is the first step in learning how to handle a panic attack effectively.
Why Panic Attacks Feel So Dangerous
Panic attacks feel dangerous because they activate survival systems in the brain. When the body is flooded with adrenaline, logic takes a back seat. Reassurance often does not work in the moment because panic is not caused by rational thought. It is driven by a false alarm in the nervous system.
Many people try to handle panic attacks by avoiding triggers, escaping situations, or using safety behaviors like checking their pulse, constantly monitoring breathing, or seeking reassurance from others. While these behaviors feel helpful short term, they teach the brain that panic is something to fear and escape. That makes future panic attacks more likely.
Handling panic differently means responding in a way that breaks this pattern.
What Not to Do During a Panic Attack
Before getting into what helps, it is important to name what often makes panic worse.
Trying to force panic to stop increases struggle and fear. Rapid breathing or overcorrecting breathing can worsen dizziness and chest sensations. Constantly checking your body for signs of danger keeps your attention locked on the symptoms. Leaving situations immediately teaches your brain that panic is intolerable.
These reactions are understandable, but they reinforce the panic cycle. Learning how to handle a panic attack involves doing something that feels counterintuitive at first.
How to Handle a Panic Attack in the Moment
Handling a panic attack effectively starts with changing how you respond to the sensations rather than trying to eliminate them.
Allow the Sensations to Be Present
One of the most effective ways to handle a panic attack is to allow the sensations instead of fighting them. This does not mean liking them or wanting them. It means acknowledging what is happening without adding fear.
Silently naming the experience can help. Saying to yourself, “This is a panic response. It is uncomfortable, but it is not dangerous,” helps reduce the threat signal in the brain.
When panic is allowed to rise and fall naturally, it often peaks and subsides more quickly than when it is resisted.
Breathe in a Way That Signals Safety
Breathing during a panic attack should be slow and steady, not deep or forceful. Overbreathing can worsen symptoms.
A helpful approach is to breathe gently through the nose, allowing the belly to rise slightly on the inhale and fall on the exhale. Extending the exhale just a bit longer than the inhale can help signal the nervous system to settle.
The goal is not to make panic disappear through breathing. The goal is to prevent hyperventilation and allow the body to regulate itself.
Shift Attention Without Avoidance
Completely distracting yourself from panic can sometimes backfire, especially if it becomes another safety behavior. Instead, aim to widen your attention.
You might notice your feet on the floor, the sounds around you, or the temperature of the room while still allowing panic sensations to exist in the background. This communicates to your brain that panic does not require full focus or emergency action.
You are not pretending the panic is not there. You are showing your brain that you can function even when it is.
Let the Panic Run Its Course
Panic attacks often feel endless, but they are time-limited. Adrenaline cannot stay elevated indefinitely.
When you stop fighting the sensations and stop trying to escape them, the body eventually comes down on its own. Each time this happens, your brain learns that panic passes without catastrophe.
That learning is what reduces panic over time.
Why These Techniques Work
These strategies work because they target the fear response that fuels panic.
When you allow sensations, you remove the secondary fear that keeps adrenaline high. When you breathe steadily, you prevent additional physical symptoms caused by overbreathing. When you stay present instead of escaping, you teach your nervous system that panic is survivable.
This is the same principle used in evidence-based treatments for panic disorder, including cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure-based approaches.
Handling panic differently in the moment is not just symptom management. It is practice for long-term change.
The Difference Between Short-Term Relief and Long-Term Recovery
Many people want a technique that will stop panic instantly every time. Unfortunately, the more you chase certainty and immediate relief, the more panic tends to stick around.
Long-term relief comes from reducing fear of panic itself. That happens through repeated experiences of facing panic without avoidance and learning that nothing catastrophic occurs.
In therapy, this process is guided intentionally through interoceptive exposure, which involves safely bringing on feared sensations and practicing responding differently. Over time, panic loses its power.
When Panic Attacks Start to Control Your Life
Occasional panic can happen during periods of stress. Panic becomes a larger problem when it starts to influence how you live.
If you find yourself avoiding places, activities, or responsibilities because of fear of panic, or if you are constantly monitoring your body for signs of another attack, it may be time to seek professional help.
Panic disorder and anxiety disorders are highly treatable with evidence-based care. You do not have to live at the mercy of panic.
How Therapy Helps You Handle Panic Attacks More Effectively
Therapy for panic attacks focuses on changing how you respond to fear, not eliminating anxiety entirely.
Treatment typically includes education about panic, skills for responding differently in the moment, and exposure exercises that retrain the brain and body. The work is active and collaborative. Progress is measured by increased freedom, not just reduced symptoms.
When people commit to this process, they often experience significant relief and regain confidence in their ability to handle anxiety.
You Do Not Have to Face Panic Alone
Learning how to handle a panic attack is a skill that improves with guidance and practice. While reading about techniques can be helpful, working with a trained therapist ensures that you are not unintentionally reinforcing panic through avoidance or safety behaviors.
If panic attacks are limiting your life and you are ready to take an active, evidence-based approach to change, therapy can help.
If you are ready to get support, you can schedule a therapy appointment with Dr. Tice. Treatment is focused, structured, and grounded in proven methods that help people experience real relief from panic and anxiety.
Panic does not have to control your decisions. With the right approach, change is possible.
