Coping

@ava265

I cope by using prevention...
as much as possible...
and in as many systematic ways as possible...

depending on the type of panic attack...
I rehearse situations and how I will react.
I mentally prepare for how I will monitor and control my breathing.
I mentally prepare for what I need to say or do for the situation.
I use Psychological Distancing both in preparation and in self-talk during the situation.
Here is a link that explains Psychological Distancing.
You could also Google it or Bing it and see videos on it etc...
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-squeaky-wheel/201405/why-you-should-start-talking-yourself

For prevention I use a systematic approach...
to make sure my lifestyle is balanced in as many ways possible to prevent my body and mind from going out of balance in any way... like...

eat a well-balanced diet...
I use https://cronometer.com/ to monitor my typical daily nutrition and try to eat regularly each day of the week so my critical nutrition levels don't go way below or way above healthy levels, especially ones that regulate the body

exercise or stretch regularly
at various times throughout the day

get enough sleep consistently and at regular times each day...
I track when I go to sleep and wake up, how long I slept, and any problems and possible solutions

take steps to reduce stress... like...
start winding down time after dinner,
lower the lights,
get away from computer screen... and
during the day I...
get up often and move,
maintain good posture for good breathing,
do tai chi stretching and breathing for relaxing and learning to relax,
make sure I keep breathing fully,
replace catastrophic thinking,
re-write my self-story narrative in a positive forgiving way,
use self-talk,
change my mindset when I notice incorrect fixed mindsets and instead replace them with growth mindsets,
set up good routines to make life simpler and easier to improve over time.

All of those things greatly minimizes attacks...
and preparation reduces and shortens them when they happen.