If you’ve ever had a panic attack, you’ll know how debilitating they can be. How they can make day to day activities impossible and control your every moment. But I found a way to take back my life.

For me, mindfulness and ACT (Acceptance & Commitment Therapy) has proven to be the answer.  In Dr Russ Harris’ bestselling book ‘The Happiness Trap’, Russ explains in detail how ACT can help you to accept negative feelings rather than trying to get rid of them which can leads to a vicious cycle of struggle and self loathing.

He explains how being happy all the time is not our natural state and that we should accept all feelings, including the most uncomfortable ones, as part of being a balanced person. This was the biggest obstacle to get my head around. Why would I not try to stop a panic attack, or get rid of them once they have started? Because it almost never works.

Try not to think of a pig flying backwards….. It’s not easy to do. The harder you try, the harder it gets. Until you stop actually trying and your thoughts move on. And then, eventually you realise it is gone… and there it is again. This is the nature of our minds. So how do I stop the struggle? By defusing with my thoughts.

This is how it works for me:

• First, I acknowledge that I am having a panic attack. I literally say to myself, ‘I notice that I am having a panic attack’
• Then I do a quick body scan from head to toe and notice where I feel the most uncomfortable. It sometimes feels like it is everywhere but usually there is a place that stands out as being the most uncomfortable
• I then try to look at that place from a third person perspective, like a scientist studying it. I use sentences to explain it as if I was talking to someone else about it
• What form does it take? – is it tight and dense, still or moving? Are the edges smooth or spiky? Does it have a colour? – What colour is it? Does it have 2 or 3 dimensions? Is it moving around your body or is it still? Is it hot or cold or neither? Answer these questions as if studying it as a third person
• Then, I make room for it within my body. With every in breath, I make more room for it, allowing it all the space it wants. I don’t have to like it but, I can make peace with it being there. I acknowledge that it can’t kill me even though if feels like it might
• I continue this cycle of accepting it, describing it and making room for it until I feel I can begin to focus on something else as well
• When I feel I am ready, even if it is still there, I turn my attention to an activity I enjoy and allow the attack to continue on in the background whilst being in the moment with whatever I am now doing as best as I can

For me, a lot of the problem with my recurring panic attacks was not panicking about anything other than having a panic attack. So if you can find tools to help you stop the struggle and just letting them be, then you will have less to fear from them so you will break the vicious cycle that can give panic attacks their power over you.

Russ Harris goes into much more detail in The Happiness Trap. You need to find what works best for you and this book gives many more examples of defusing techniques and helps to explain why many of us struggle so much with our inner voices.

If you are desperate for begin trying these and other methods now, then, The Happiness Trap Pocketbook, may be the best place to start. It’s quick and easy to read and gives you some tools to help stop the struggle now. Though I do recommend reading the full version to help you understand how and why it works as this will give you more long term success.