Panic and anxiety attacks can be crippling experiences, but, as hard as they may seem to be to get over, they do happen for a reason. Deal with that reason and the attacks will vanish. Today we'll be focusing on the cause of the attacks and what you can do to stop them.
Both panic and anxiety attacks occur due to a build up of anxiety. Panic attacks always seem to be random, but they are onset by a large build up of stress that was never dealt with. Anxiety attacks don't need as much build up and can be triggered by a single extreme stress. By learning how to deal with stress before it reaches critical mass, you will be able to put these sorts of experiences behind you.
Among all the ways to deal with stress, most of the commonly recommended ones are severely flawed. Stress is still not the ultimate root of the problem. Not everyone will react the same way to the same events. If they did, that would mean events cause stress. This isn't the case. Perceptions concerning events trigger stress. By altering your perceptions to make them stronger and healthier, you will be less affected by what happens. Not only that, but you don't have that much control over what happens in the outside world. You can gain complete control over your own thoughts though.
Some form of mental discipline is required in order to effectively alter these perceptions. Gaining discipline in any area can help, but you can start more specifically. By learning to effectively meditate, you can strengthen your mind in many ways. Many doubt meditation, believing it has to be religious or spiritual in nature, but it doesn't.
Meditation can just be a strengthening of the mind or mental maintenance. Thought directs all action, the only reason people don't spend more time on their thoughts is because they can't see them. Phrases like, "I have to see it to believe it," is a common phrase in our culture. You can't see gravity either, but that has a huge effect on your life. You will be able to see large changes in the outside world as a result of gaining patience and focus.
There are many forms of meditation, each with an unique benefit to offer. A basic form is simply practicing thought control. A common meditation seeks to calm the mind until it is completely quiet and devoid of conscious thought. In order to do this, you must allow the thoughts that flood your head to be let go and be viewed as not important or at least not important at that moment. Let thoughts go by choosing not to engage them.
When you can do this effectively, you may let go of stressful thoughts that are leading you to panic or anxiety attacks. Your interaction with the stress during the attacks can actually make them worse when you don't know how to deal with them.
You can also change what stresses you out when you build up this discipline. When you change the questions you ask, you change your focus. If you are basing many of these internal questions of negativity or disbelief, you will be drawn towards such ends. Better questions contain presuppositions that you will achieve your desired goals. These help you to gain confidence and reduce stress.