Yes, drinking water can help manage and even prevent panic attacks by rehydrating you, lowering heart rate, providing a grounding sensory focus, and signaling safety to the brain, while dehydration itself can worsen anxiety and trigger panic-like symptoms such as heart palpitations. Slow sips of water, or even cold water/washcloths for grounding, interrupt the panic cycle by redirecting attention to the present moment and easing physical stress.
How to handle a panic attack
Stress Response: Dehydration activates the body's stress response, leading to the release of stress hormones like cortisol. Chronic activation of this response can heighten anxiety levels. Ensuring proper hydration helps mitigate this stress-induced response. .
Lying down might seem like the best option, but instead of relaxing it can restrict breathing, making the attack worse. Try sitting down or standing up. This will allow you to take deep breaths or pace away excess energy.
Practice Meditation. Meditation is great at reestablishing the mind-body connection, slowing down the chaos of a panic attack through intentional breath and focus. It helps reduce cortisol levels, improves sleep quality, and helps keep the mind from wandering.
But it's thought to be linked to a combination of things, including: a traumatic or very stressful life experience, such as bereavement. having a close family member with panic disorder. an imbalance of neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) in the brain.
Supplement options
Although further studies are needed, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to anxiety and depression. Supplements may help manage symptoms of stress and anxiety in those who are deficient. Vitamin B complex supplements may also help lower stress and anxiety levels.
Avoid caffeine, alcohol and smoking. These can make panic attacks worse. Exercise regularly to help you manage stress, relieve tension and boost your mood.
However, while these nocturnal attacks usually only last for a few minutes, it can take a long time for you to calm down enough to go back to sleep after having one. This, coupled with worrying about whether you're going to have another panic attack, may lead to insomnia.
Panic attacks happen suddenly and feel overwhelming, while anxiety attacks develop gradually and are often linked to long-term stressors. Panic attacks bring intense physical symptoms that peak quickly and then fade, whereas anxiety attacks cause persistent worry that lingers for a longer period.
Five common anxiety symptoms include excessive worry, restlessness, a racing heart/shortness of breath, difficulty sleeping, and trouble concentrating, often accompanied by physical signs like muscle tension, sweating, trembling, or digestive upset, and behavioral changes such as avoiding triggers.
The Calming Effects of Water
The gentle embrace of water is known to alleviate stress, anxiety, and tension, providing a soothing respite from the demands of daily life.
DON'T: Dismiss their feelings
To avoid this, try not to use minimising phrases such as “You're overreacting” or “It's all in your head”, listen without interrupting or judging them and acknowledge that even if you don't fully understand anxiety, it is their reality.
Multiple attacks of different intensities may occur over several hours, which might feel as if one panic attack is rolling into the next, like waves. At first, panic attacks usually seem to come 'out of the blue,' but over time a person may come to expect them in certain situations.
Understand that panic attacks are scary but not dangerous.
When you rule out any medical condition, the next step is to then learn that panic symptoms are scary but not dangerous. Your symptoms are simply a result of your fight-flight response being activated without any real reason.
They might want the room to themselves or just want some physical distance between you two, while still being able to see you. On that note, never touch someone who is having a panic attack without asking first. “Even a comforting touch can feel overwhelming during a panic attack,” says Williams.
Try the best position to sleep with anxiety: The best sleeping position for anxiety is on your back with your limbs splayed out, otherwise known as the 'shooting star' position or supine position. While you may feel tempted to curl on your side, this position causes muscle tension rather than relaxation.
And while it sounds like a good idea, deep breathing during a panic attack often backfires. That's because most people experiencing panic are already over-breathing or hyperventilating. Taking an even bigger breath can intensify the imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the body—and make symptoms worse.
In many cases, a panic attack triggers a fast heart rate, also known as tachycardia. The heart rate may speed up to 200 beats per minute or even faster. A fast heart rate can make you feel lightheaded and short of breath. Or you might feel fluttering or pounding in your chest.
A panic attack itself can't kill you. But panic attacks can cause scary symptoms, like feeling that you're “going crazy” or dying. Panic attacks can also cause scary physical symptoms that can be mistaken for a life-threatening medical emergency. Examples include chest pain, trouble breathing, sweating, or trembling.
Women are more likely than men to develop panic disorder. With the right treatment and support, people with panic disorder can manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life.
Yes, research shows that dehydration can trigger anxiety symptoms by affecting brain function and increasing stress hormone levels. Studies have found a direct link between decreased hydration and increased anxiety symptoms, particularly in situations where dehydration affects neurotransmitter balance.
Vitamins B9 and B12 are both thought to treat symptoms of anxiety. Folic acid has many uses in the body, and a vitamin B9 deficiency has been linked to higher levels of anxiety and depression. When taken in conjunction with B12, these B super-vitamins help metabolize serotonin, which is important for mood regulation.
Other sources include legumes, nuts, seeds, and whole grains. Foods rich in zinc such as oysters, cashews, liver, beef, and egg yolks have been linked to lowered anxiety. Other foods, including fatty fish like wild Alaskan salmon, contain omega-3 fatty acids.
Propranolol and Xanax (alprazolam) are two medications that can treat anxiety. Xanax is FDA approved for certain types of anxiety, but propranolol isn't. It's used “off-label” in some cases. Propranolol is typically reserved for performance anxiety.