How to deal with anxiety crisis?

Anxiety is a very subjective symptom that affects every human being. Often, what makes a person anxious does not mean that they will have an anxiety attack due to the same fact. Intense anxiety is a disease that is more difficult to recognize and treat and in which it is complicated to get support, either from a friend or a family member to help with the symptom.

There are a few ways to get through an anxiety crisis and deal with it in the best way possible. In this article, we'll further explore how to identify people in an anxiety crisis, as well as find out how to help them and what to do when you're going through it. Follow along!

How to identify someone in an anxiety crisis

During an anxiety crisis, the body goes into a state of alert, causing an abnormal discharge of adrenaline and noradrenaline. Some physical, cognitive and emotional symptoms become present during the crisis. See in the next topics what some of them are!

Physical symptoms

Physical symptoms are the most possible to identify when someone is experiencing an anxiety crisis, because they manifest in the body, bringing a type of discomfort.

Some of them are: increased heart rate, shortness of breath, fast breathing, chest pain or pressure, choking sensation, dizziness, sweating, hot flushes, nausea, diarrhea, tremors, tingling or numbness in arms or legs, weakness and feeling faint, muscle tension, and lastly, dry mouth.

Cognitive symptoms

During an anxiety crisis, cognitive symptoms affect our relationship with our mind the most. Often, it's easy for you to end up feeling afraid of losing control, and that makes you more and more scared of what's happening. When you let these symptoms get to you, the tendency is for the crisis to get stronger and stronger.

Thus, some cognitive symptoms are: poor concentration or loss of focus, poor memory, worrying too often, and a large amount of thoughts related to danger or threat.

Emotional symptoms

The emotional symptoms caused by anxiety tend to bring with them negative thoughts, thus making the person more apprehensive at the time of the crisis. During this period, certain emotions end up surfacing in our mind and generate some symptoms.

Thus, they are: feeling of nervousness, tension, irritability, feeling of fear, apprehension or dread, frustration and, finally, impatience.

How to help someone in an anxiety crisis

Since anxiety is a disease that can happen at any time and to anyone, it is always good to have alternatives to know how to deal with and help someone who is going through a crisis. Check, in the next topics, some indispensable attitudes!

Abandon optimism

Although it is a good intentioned attitude, at the time of a crisis, no one wants to study phrases like, "it will pass" or "it's going to be okay, stay calm". With these types of phrases, the person going through the anxiety crisis tends to get irritated, because they end up interpreting it as if the other person is belittling what they are going through.

In fact, those who go through an anxiety crisis cannot see positive situations, they can only see as if everything is a problem. So, having the attitude of not repeating optimistic phrases in times of crisis will help the person not to feel more irritated.

No pressure

At the moment of crisis, there is no point in pressuring the person or trying to make them react under pressure. When going through an anxiety crisis, the individual is in need of a lot of support, because, besides going through the crisis, he is being pressured. Thus, he will only feel devalued, and everything will end up getting even worse.

Phrases like "you need to snap out of it" or "you'll get through this" can come across as negative reinforcement, making the person feel lower and undermining their self-esteem, which is already affected by anxiety.

Just listen

Making yourself available to listen to a person with an anxiety crisis can be one of the best alternatives to help them. By talking, the person can express some feelings, bringing a little more relief to the moment of crisis.

However, it is always good to respect each person's recovery time. At this time, it is good to avoid forcing a dialogue, since this can generate even more anxiety. Also avoid making judgments about what the person is saying at the time of venting.

Real concern

Be honest about the concern you are feeling about the person. If you need to and are able to talk to the person during an anxiety attack, have a warm dialogue. In these most difficult times, when we show empathy, we help the person feel comfortable and that they can count on you in that moment.

An anxiety crisis lasts on average 25 minutes, so stay by the person's side. Try not to turn the moment of crisis into a catastrophe, try to act calmly and naturally, transmitting confidence to the person.

Seek distraction

A great attitude to have is to try to distract the person with random topics that make them change their focus at that moment. Bringing their attention to good things they've already experienced is a very good dialogue alternative - bring up topics like a trip they've taken, achievements they've made, or happy plans.

But it is always good to do this carefully, so it does not seem that the moment of crisis is not important. Try to be sensitive when bringing up the issues, so it will be possible to identify whether you continue with this strategy or not. The person with anxiety tends to show if they are receptive, otherwise stop trying to distract them.

A walk helps

When a person is anxious, they may not be in the mood to do anything, but it is worth trying to help them by inviting them to go for a walk, to leave the environment they are in, to go for a walk in the square or to have an ice cream.

Just try not to push too hard, because the person should feel free to accept the invitation you made to them. If they don't accept, you can propose doing something together, after they get better. With this attitude, you can show welcome and support, helping to dispel the feeling of loneliness experienced by the person with anxiety.

No alcohol

Although alcohol is often associated with something relaxing, avoid offering it to the person during an anxiety crisis. This is because whenever a moment of crisis appears in their life, the drink may be remembered as a form of relief.

So, by avoiding offering an alcoholic drink at this moment, you will help the person not to mask a symptom that, many times, appears to warn that there is something going on with the organism.

No expectations

Those who live with an anxious person should avoid generating apprehension and expectations. In this case, be a very objective person, doing everything possible to eliminate these ideas. Do not say things that could increase the person's apprehension or trigger crises.

Also, don't have attitudes that increase a person's anxiety, things like taking too long to answer a message or being late when an appointment is scheduled. Anxious people should be taken with caution and care.

Recognize a crisis

Identifying when someone is going through an anxiety crisis is the first step to knowing what to do next and being able to help them. Being able to identify is essential for you to provide support and not ignore them in the moment.

Generally, one of the first signs tends to be physical symptoms, such as: shaking the legs, walking from side to side, gasping for breath, excessive sweating and trembling. The beginning can also be through observing the person's speech. If your speech is always pessimistic and predicts something bad frequently, pay attention to these signs and do your best to provide asupport.

Practical suggestions

When you are going to give suggestions to a person with an anxiety crisis, it is essential that you have simple and practical tips. Bringing solutions that help the person deal with the anxious moments or practices they may have to avoid those moments can be a good alternative.

Tips such as: talking to the person to better plan their routine can bring more peace of mind, because having control of their own routine can make them feel more secure.

In addition, since anxiety causes a lot of agitation and also tends to affect sleep, asking the person to have a notebook beside the bed is an effective alternative to help keep the thoughts that hinder sleep at bay. This is because the person can write down possible thoughts or appointments that are important for the next day.

What a person should do in an anxiety crisis

What to do in an anxiety crisis will depend a lot on the severity or intensity, so it is always ideal to receive advice from a psychologist. In the next topics, check out some tips to help you when you are experiencing an anxiety crisis!

Accept the anxiety

First of all, it is very important that you accept that you are experiencing an anxiety crisis. Also, accepting anxiety as something that happens to everyone helps a lot to decrease your self-blame.

That's because by not accepting that anxiety is an illness that can accompany various moments of your life - and that it's a human thing to have crises - you can increase self-blame, intensifying your moments of panic even more. So, accepting it is already a great start to deal with it.

Breathe slowly

When you experience an anxiety crisis, it is natural for your breathing to become more accelerated, being one of the physical symptoms of the disease. To better deal with this moment of crisis, it is recommended to do your best to focus attention on your breathing, trying to slow down the pace of it.

By having this attitude, you will be able to bring more calm to the moment and seek to use a simple technique. Pay attention to how your breathing is and do your best to inhale through your nose and release the air through your mouth. To help even more, when you exhale, make a noise releasing the air, relaxing and releasing your body in this moment of exhalation.

Drink a soothing tea

A great alternative when facing a moment of crisis is to make use of natural teas with plants that help reduce anxiety and nervousness. These help a lot to calm anxiety, favoring sleep and leaving the person calmer and more peaceful in a moment of crisis.

Some teas such as chamomile (the most famous), valerian, melissa, lemon balm and lavender are some alternatives of tranquilizing teas. Many of them have a calming action on the nervous system, helping the physical symptoms caused by anxiety crisis. It is always worth having at home those practical and quick sachets to ingest.

Having your senses as allies

Pay close attention to the present and to the signals your body sends during an anxiety crisis. Working on your body's sensitivity and perception of what happens during these moments will help you understand what resources you used to get through a moment like this in the best possible way.

Thus, having the senses as allies is a process of pure self-knowledge. This is because anxiety is something that will not cease to exist, it will just present itself in different intensities. By paying attention to how you managed to deal with this moment, you will accumulate enough resources to deal with future crises, should they happen.

Expressing emotions

One mistake that most people make when going through an anxiety crisis is precisely holding back the emotions that present themselves at such a time. The more you avoid feeling the emotions at a time of crisis, the worse it can be.

If you feel like it, screaming or crying are emotions that, if put out there, can help bring you some relief at this time. Often, just expressing your emotions through a conversation with someone you trust can be a great alternative at this time. What you shouldn't do is avoid expressing the emotions that come up.

Questioning thoughts

If you can, depending on the level of your anxiety crisis, it is always good to try to question the thoughts of the moment. Try to identify what made you anxious and if the thought that caused you to be at that moment makes sense or not.

By questioning your thoughts, you experience a process of self-knowledge, trying to understand what makes you anxious and what led you to be there at that moment of crisis. It may seem difficult to practice this at the moment of anxiety, however, the more you manage to do it, the more you will learn to better deal with your problems.

Turn off the mind

Doing what you can to decrease the amount of stimuli at a time like an anxiety attack will go a long way toward decreasing your anxiety. Things like fiddling with your phone, watching television, or searching for random information can make you even more anxious.

By avoiding being exposed to too much information, you'll decrease the chances of becoming even more anxious, because depending on what you consume, your crisis can be heightened. It's essential that your mind has some time to itself, that you can seek a quieter place with less stimuli to stay when you're faced with this crisis.

Physical activity of preference

Trying to do some physical activity, if you can, in a time of crisis will help you focus on something else. Not focusing on the situation that's causing you anxiety can help reduce the symptoms of anxiety. So, going for a run, going to the gym or doing some exercise can help you a lot at this time.

Besides helping you in the moment of crisis, the practice of physical activity is able to increase the production of neurotransmitters that help promote the feeling of well-being and relaxation of your body. These are benefits that, accumulated throughout your life, will help your mental and physical health of your body.

Taking your prescribed medication

If your anxiety is more constant and strong and you have to take some kind of medication directed by a psychiatrist to control it, it is always good to keep this medication up to date. The lack of and inconsistency of medication can make your crises more and more present in your day.

In addition, making sure you're up to date on any medications you may need to take will help you remain a more stable person, should you experience situations that help trigger your anxiety attacks. This attitude is key to keeping your mental health up to date. But always seek the advice of a professional and never self-medicate.

Are there effective alternatives for dealing with anxiety crisis?

The first step to better dealing with an anxiety crisis is to accept that it can happen to anyone. Some practical measures such as paying attention to your breathing, seeking to better understand your moments of crisis and even doing meditation practices can be very effective to better get through a moment of crisis.

Anxiety cannot and should not take over your life, because you must learn to deal with it in the best way possible. Therefore, try to put into practice the information you read here and always analyze how your life and your emotional health is going. If you have frequent symptoms of anxiety, seek the help of a health professional.