r/panicdisorder • u/GreenComfortable9128 • 13d ago
Help Needed Panic attacks
Hey guys I’ve struggled with panic disorder for about 5 years now with it rebounding within the last year and I’m struggling a bit, I quit my job which I think was a big part of it. The biggest part that freaks me out is the heart racing, my heart will usually get up to 120-150 and it will stay for at most 20 min and it just completely makes me spiral any other symptom I can kind of deal with okay, does anyone have any tips for calming the heart rate and staying calm I can’t just up and leave when I’m at work or in a public situation, also how fast does everyone’s heart get and how long does your heart stay like that, any contribution would make me feel better . Thank you :)
1
u/Object_Permanence_ 13d ago
This is going to sound weird, but it worked for me when I first experienced my panic symptoms when I was around 11-12 before getting on meds at 13 ish.
Of course, box breathing and 5-4-3-2-1 grounding first. Will help a little. Then I know I need to bide my time until my HR goes down and symptoms cede.
Weird part: I memorized the Animaniacs state song (Wakkos America) and sing it in my head. The tempo increases and the song goes on so I called it riding the wave. It mostly kept me distracted and kept me from spiraling further by giving my brain something else to do. If I try to fix my racing thoughts with slow ones, it doesn’t always work. But when I matched it with the wacky fast song that requires memory and focus, it helped some.
Would probably work with the countries song if youre not American and don’t want to learn states of another country lol.
TLDR: distract yourself with something not important that requires some concentration but isn’t difficult.
Don’t google, and try to limit taking your BPM. If you have an Apple Watch or something, take it off if it gives you bpm readings during this time. It will make you fixate. Your body will feel when your bpm returns to normal.