516 SelfWork: Panicked About Panic: 5 Surefire Ways of Calming Your Nervous System

Having a panic disorder is bad enough.

You may be able to anticipate it happening; for example, if you tend to panic when you see a spider or a snake.

But other times, panic attacks – the sudden onset of intense symptoms of anxiety, such as trouble breathing, your heart racing, feelings of wanting or even needing to flee, tunnel vision, sweating, trembling – these very unwelcome and unexpected feelings come upon you like a freight train suddenly roaring toward you – going its fastest speed. It can truly feel as if you’ve been invaded by some other being and the attacks themselves can be very frightening, especially if you have no idea what they are.

 

Panicked About Panic…

Yet what can easily begin to happen –  after you’ve had a few of these highly unpleasant and even humiliating attacks – you can begin to fear them. You can see ahead and realize that you might have to deal with one at a time when you have responsibilities, duties, things to do.

And so… you become panicked about panic.

I podcasted about this topic in 2016. Now, in 2026, fresh information that could help you with yours,  that wasn’t available in 2016.

So, what do I mean… panic about panic?

It’s an intriguing aspect of panic that can seem intolerable to experience; how your life can grow smaller due to your fear of having a panic attack… again. And that fear can feel as if it’s taking over your life.

Why is this? What makes a panic attack this fear-inducing?

I’ve actually not asked myself this question before – even when I have struggled mightily with panic myself.

The answer that comes to mind is this: Perhaps because it can appear so quickly.

How panic can seem different than other anxiety disorders…

If you have, let’s say, OCD, that’s something that you know about yourself, that you’ve lived with for a long time. It’s very ritualistic. It’s far from welcome, don’t get me wrong. It definitely makes life harder – even though the rituals involved in OCD begin because you have the belief or sense, however irrational, that the ritual keeps bad things from happening. Or makes your world safer or more secure.

Generalized anxiety is a pattern of worry and even visualizing terrible things happening to people you love. Social anxiety and even agoraphobia can initially have less of an impact, but grow – and then become quite isolating and anxiety-ridden major conditions.

But you wake up with this kind of anxiety. And you go to sleep with it. You may hate it – but it’s more of your constant companion.

Panic attacks however don’t make life seem more secure.  You can be living out your day  – and bam, here comes panic. All of a sudden, your brain (specifically your amygdala or the part of the brain that alerts you to potential harm or danger) goes off, and make something you’re trying to do or accomplish or succeed at doing, also something that brings intense anxiety. You might’ve done it hundreds of times. Suddenly, or suddenly seeming, it’s become something that causes panic.

When you’re panicked about something you’ve done hundreds of times…

One of the most common sources of panic attacks that I’ve treated is panic when you’re driving over a bridge.

You’ve done it hundreds of times. But suddenly, or again seemingly suddenly, it becomes something that causes panic and dread. Shaking and sweating. Feelings of feared loss of control. Vision changes. It’s awful, especially if you’ve got your kids in the back seat.

Challenging the fears that come along with panic and/or challenging the thoughts you have about the attacks themselves (“I’m weak because I have panic” or “I hate my panic”) can be extremely helpful. And doing that with a therapist who’s well-acquainted with treatment for anxiety is great.

5 surefire ways to calm your nervous system..

There are some great techniques that you can use when you feel like you’re having a day that might lead to panic. Kind of hyped-up. Nervous. Maybe you’ve got something on your calendar that you wonder if that would bring on a panic attack. Some of these you can do in the moment… some of them you can’t. But I think they’re all useful.

Before I go into those, there are new medications that you can talk about with your primary care doc or the medical professional that oversees your anxiety medications. This isn’t an exhaustive list: there’s another spray, Spravato, that’s been tried and found very effective to treatment-resistent depression. But it’s also being considered for anxiety, although not yet FDA-approved.

But now, let’s get to techniques you can use in the moment to help with panic. Dr. Jon Saunders’ short YouTube clip is a great one for explaining these different techniques. The first is diaphragmatic breathing – basically it can help to lie down (but not necessary). Place your hand on your abdomen, and as you breathe for four counts, discover whether your abdomen expands slightly as you breathe in. That means that your diaphragm is responding naturally to the breath entering the lungs, and it will expand as well, mildly pushing your abdomen out. If this isn’t happening, then your breathing may be too shallow – and you’re not going to be able to get enough oxygen into your system.

The steps to this are: breathing in through your nose for a slow count of 4 or 5, gently holding that breath for 3 or 4, then breathing out through the mouth for 4 or 5. Then waiting 2 or 3 to continue that cycle.

You can do this several times a day, for several breaths at a time. And it will reset your autonomic nervous system into a more relaxed state.

The second thing Dr. Saunders suggests is what he called a “cervical nod.” That’s where you draw your chin toward your chest and keep it there, while you do the breathing exercise detailed before. Basically, what you’re doing is encouraging the back of your neck to relax. The back of the neck stays so tight for many of us who sit at work all the time, and pressure and stiffness become the chronic state of your neck. This gives your neck a little vacation from that – and is a great way to release stress and tension.

This third one is something I’ve used within the last year myself -and I love it. Because it’s easy. You can do it anywhere. You can do it privately. You hum. That’s right I said hum. You can also sing some kind of simple song. But they’ve found that when you sing or hum, it evokes the parasympathetic nervous system, which is exactly what you want. I was nervous before a talk (which I almost always am…) and didn’t want my “panic about panic” to drive the show. So, I hummed an old song over and over that my dad taught me. And it was very helpful. Maybe evoking my father was also helpful, who knows!

This next technique you obviously can’t do in the moment. You submerge your face in a bowl of ice water for 10 seconds or you can put a cold pack on your cheeks. What you’re doing is invoking what’s called the “divers reflex” – which is when receptors send signals to your brain that shifts you into a conservation mode. Your brain shifts into ‘how do I stay alive if my face is submerged in very cold water” and your heart rate slows down and there’s more blood flow to your heart and your brain. If you have any kind of heart or other condition, then please check with your doctor before trying this.

We’re coming to the end of this episode – and I wanted to talk more about the autonomic nervous system’s different “parts” and what is polyvagal theory. However, we’re almost out of time.  But let’s touch on what the vagus nerve actually is. “The vagus nerve is a bundle of neurons connecting the brain to many of the major organs, with nerves running both from the organ to the brain and vice versa” (Wilson, 2011, para. 2). Among other things, it helps regulate our heart rate, breathing, and appetite.

As we’ve talked about on SelfWork before, the vagus nerve both sends messages from the brain to the gut – and then many – in fact the majority of messages are running from the gut to the brain, giving the brain vital info. Experts say that to improve this vagal movement, it’s good to moderately exercise for at least 20 minutes a day. That can be a walk around the block at work. An early morning run or walk. In a metropolitan city where walking is very available, that could be walking to work. Dr. Saunders’ says in the YouTube video on this, to think of this kind of exercise as strength training for your body/brain connection.

So, hum. Breathe. Stretch that neck. Keep a bowl of ice water handy. And get some moderate exercise. Check out the new medications that are available. And then there are the old standards: Journaling. Reading self-help books that will guide you in a more compassionate and less-panicked direction.

One last thing. I always ask people who have panic, “If you did have an attack, what’s the worst thing that could happen?” Then the second question is, “And how would you handle that worst thing?”  Usually the thing we may say would be the worst thing… we could handle. I often open my talks now with a revelation that I at times get panicked. I’ll ask for a stool, just in case I need to sit down for a minute.

Episode -Specific Links:

Dr. Saunders’ YouTube video on these five calming techniques!

Goodreads recommendations for “best self-help books for panic disorder”

Important Links:

Click here to order the PHD Workbook!

Click here to find out more about Dr. Margaret’s PESI course on perfectionism and depression on November 2, 2026! It’s virtual!

By the way… 

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