Your heart is pounding. You’re pouring sweat. You feel like you can’t breathe. Your stomach may get into the act, too, causing nausea and/or diarrhea. You might feel lightheaded and unable to think clearly. These are all possible symptoms of what people often call an anxiety attack. The clinical term is panic attack, but whatever you call it, it’s deeply unpleasant.
Episodes like these — when fear or anxiety manifest as physical symptoms — are common. Krystal Lewis, clinical psychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health’s Section on Development and Affective Neuroscience, estimates that about a third of all adolescents and adults will have an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives, and panic attacks — or anxiety attacks if you prefer — often occur with anxiety disorders.
How to Calm an Anxiety Attack
If you’ve had a panic attack, there are a few things that Lewis, who is known as “The Courage Coach,” wants you to know:
1) Panic attacks are intense but brief. This will pass.
