any way to stop a panic attack?

Know that you caring means you aren’t those thoughts and they can be pop up ads in ur brain that try to play tricks on you. You are seen and I’m sorry it’s been that way. I pray it gets better for you 🤍

I often find that running my fingers along something textured (cold water bottle, carpet, my own hair, etc) and trying to force my breathing to slow is actually very helpful. Every time intrusive thoughts start to tug, I try to notice the thought, acknowledge it, and then focus on the texture again. It's not perfect, but it does help with grounding. A shower is also excellent for that too, especially trying to focus on the drops/streams of water on my skin. I do try to sit in the discomfort first though, reminding myself that the grounding is not to remove panic but to bring myself back to reality.

I work in a fast paced and high demand job with little time for panic or anxiety. (Which is so unfortunate because ya boy is always panicking or anxious 🙃) I’ve found that shocking your brain with something unexpected can completely pull you out of that spiral. I’ll always keep super sour beer salt on me or something similar, if I panic I whip it out and load up the underpart of my tongue. My brain zaps to reality and instead of ruminating on the situation I’m panicking about it’s like “ what the hell is in my mouth” instead! Also works with anything salty and sour, could be just a lemon, tajin, etc. Good luck, you aren’t alone and I believe in you ❤️

with this, i find grounding myself works well whether it be in going outside and walking barefoot for a few minutes or standing up and taking a cold shower, it does this thing where you have to focus on your body unwillingly then you remember you’re a physical being and not solely your brain although it can feel like. i also take medication as “break-through” meds on top of what I already take for times im more anxious

thank you all for your help!!!

For me, it depends on the situation. Not all methods of reducing anxiety can be tried just anywhere. For example: I will get panic attacks if I feel like I'm not being allowed to tell my side of a situation, especially at work. My boss has worked with me for 10 years and knows that when I start to get loud and speak faster: I'm not getting angry, my anxiety is rising. So she'll say 'Slow down... breathe, I'm listening'. And because she is aware of my OCD and what it can do, she is able to help me reduce my anxiety. So having people who understand what your OCD can do to you and how to help reduce the panic is a huge tool. If you're like me, though, you probably DON'T have too many people who understand your OCD that well(or maybe you do), so this is kinda a niche anxiety tool. Another thing I do is hop on here. I love having a community of people who actually DO understand how I'm feeling. So in these moments, I'll hop on the community page, find someone with a similar topic to how I'm feeling and allow myself to put on someone elsees shoes for a few moments. Doing that is a HUGE help for my anxiety and is why I'm hopped on here when I got home from work. Helping or trying to help others is a great way to get myself out of my own head and put things into perspective, ESPECIALLY anxiety! And then, for immediate relief in situations where time doesn't allow me the first two options, sometimes I just have to walk away from whatever it is thats causing anxiety. I've learned(the hard way) that when my anxiety is up and I continue to try to explain myself or let my mind ruminate until my brain bleed, or yell at myself to shut up, or continue to argue with someone...anything that has me escalating a situation in search for a resolution my mind is screaming at me I need....I try to walk away, preferably to a different room. The more different, the better: temp, brightness, furniture...anything that'll make me aware of my surroundings changing.... I can't just 'let it go' since I have OCD, so sometimes I have to trick my brain by changing my environment.

gakhed (YT) - makes the most calming cat videos with his own music. This is the calmest playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxMMTyhqu81vJK4siTSiSrll65h0nCpmT