Self-Help Strategies for Panic Disorder

Learn self-help strategies for Panic Disorder, an anxiety disorder characterized by repeated episodes of intense fear accompanied by physical symptoms that may include chest pain, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, dizziness, or abdominal distress.

Panic attacks are the body’s “fight-flight-freeze” response kicking in. This response gets our body ready to defend itself (for instance, our heart beats faster to pump blood to our muscles so we have the energy to run away or fight off danger). However, sometimes our body reacts when there is no real danger.

Panic attacks are harmless, although they can feel very uncomfortable or scary. Because panic attacks are the body’s “alarm system,” they are not designed to harm you. Panic attacks are also brief (typically lasting only 5 to 10 minutes at peak intensity), although they sometimes feel like they go on forever. Because panic attacks take up a lot of energy in the body, they quickly run out of gas. This is why they don’t last very long. Read more in the PDF below.