Written by Dr Vanishree BN About ten days ago, Anjali Sinha, who works as a senior sales manager at a private firm, was flying from Delhi to Pune via Ahmedabad when she had an anxiety attack. The incident happened when the plane landed in Ahmedabad for the stopover. She panicked when the crew announced that there could be a delay in boarding new passengers from Ahmedabad and found it difficult to breathe. An anxiety attack followed and she was gasping till the crew members on the flight and a doctor on board helped her calm down. The news hit the headlines as Sharma took to her social media handle to thank all those who helped her regain composure. But more importantly, it tells us how an innocuous development – in this case the prospect of a delayed flight – can trigger extreme reactions. What is an anxiety attack and why do we experience it? How do we deal with such attacks? An anxiety attack can be experienced by anyone. It is the commonest mental health condition and, therefore, it is vital for all of us to understand what might be the cause of such attacks, how to identify them and what are the ways to deal with them. Triggers might vary from one person to another but usually it is a manifestation of work-related or personal stress piled up from weeks to months. It could be the result of phobias like fear of flying, taking a lift, enclosed spaces or nervousness before delivering a speech or attending a lecture. How does an anxiety attack look like or what does one experience during this phase? There is usually a surge of fearfulness with people experiencing physical symptoms like sweating, breathing difficulty, chest pain and dizziness, sometimes leading to fainting. One can feel a rapid rise in heart rate, an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach and some heaviness in the chest. Such attacks can last from a few seconds to minutes or a couple of hours. Sometimes one can remain in a panicked state for the whole day. When the sense of impending doom lasts for a few moments, we call it a panic attack. If such feelings of negativity and fear last a day, we call it general anxiety. I have had a patient, who complained of sweating, breathlessness and chest pain every day. It was such a persistent pattern that it took us some time to figure out that his anxiety stemmed from his apprehension about finishing his tasks of the day in the prescribed time limit. One of our patients felt trapped whenever she boarded a flight or AC bus The enclosed space got to her, causing palpitations till she got out of it. Another of my patients had performance anxiety before attending a meeting and making a presentation. How can one deal with anxiety attacks? While one can identify anxiety attacks symptomatically, always try to understand what might be the triggers. 1) Know what your physical symptoms of anxiety are. List them. 2) Note down the frequency and intensity of such attacks. 3) Whenever you are on the verge of experiencing such attacks, seek help immediately from somebody around you. Make sure you sit down at an available place. Then try to anchor your vision to a fixed point, even a wall. Try to breathe in and breathe out, each phase lasting four seconds. Do this very slowly till the attack subsides. Knowing that you are prone to anxiety attacks, get into a long-term routine of relaxation exercises on a day-to-day basis. There are muscle relaxation exercises like Jacobson’s muscle relaxation exercises, also known as JPMR exercises, which anyone can practise as videos are easily available on social media platforms. These focus on tightening and relaxing specific muscle groups in sequence. These might just take 10-15 minutes of your time every day but they are easy to follow and help you stay calm generally. To a certain extent, these exercises have proven to reduce physical symptoms of anxiety. When do you need to consult a mental health expert? One should always remember that the above-mentioned ways to deal with anxiety are just quick fixes. Consult a mental health professional at the earliest for evaluation of your deep-seated triggers, and then he/she can customise a restorative regime for your condition. Treatment might include medications, some of which might need to be continued for six to eight months, depending on the diagnosis and severity of the condition. This, alongside weekly or fortnightly therapy sessions with the mental health professional, specifically to address the cause of your anxiety, can help you develop coping mechanisms. Anxiety requires medical attention so that it can be treated at the earliest and its progression halted. So never hesitate to seek support.
