This is my biggest tip. Given our world today and how much misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories exist in Web 2.0, I would bet that most members will be doubtful and suspicious of my claim. My claim is science and evidence-based, and to corroborate that science, you can investigate. Further, the method to stop an anxiety attack is guaranteed to work if one employs the proper procedure.
In short—more details later—an anxiety attack is caused by a biochemical process which can be reversed if you employ pursed-lip breathing at the beginning of hyperventilation. This process and method was explained to me by my psychoanalyst, M.D., a professor in a school of medicine at a major U.S. university. He explains that the process and intervention has been known for years but that these insights have been slow to trickle down into clinical practice.
The following summary, in part, could be technical and detailed, biochemistry on a molecular level, but I will dispense with that and stay with the main ideas. Further, it is not necessary to understand the details for the method to work but, if you wish to be enlightened, feel free to explore—and for anyone interested, I will offer advice on that.
The following summary is my best shot at a paraphrase. An anxiety attack begins with a Thought, either conscious or unconscious, or an external trigger. As to the latter, unconscious thoughts, psychoanalysis has the capacity to uncover these thinking processes and thus resolve anxiety. Anxiety arises from a perceived threat, initiating the "fight or flight" response and that initiates hyperventilation, rapid breathing.
Using links in a chain as a metaphor, the first link is a Thought or an external trigger, the second link is a physiological response, and the third link, and most important one, that is the cause of the anxiety attack, is a biochemical one and includes about eight or so steps. In simple terms, the critical steps are as follows: increased breathing rate leads to excessive carbon dioxide being exhaled, and although carbon dioxide is a respiratory waste product, it is critical for maintaining blood pH in equilibrium. This reduction in carbon dioxide leads to respiratory alkalosis, where the blood pH rises above the normal range (greater than 7.5). Alkalosis contributes to symptoms such as tingling and muscle spasms and also causes vasoconstriction in the brain, leading to dizziness and lightheadedness. Note that these are physiological symptoms. Others report mental phenomena such as fear of dying or of being annihilated. In my experience, and I think many of you will agree, the anxiety attack is one of the most terrifying experiences possible.
For the solution to work—pursed-lip breathing—you must be aware that you are approaching hyperventilation, that there is a shift from your normal breathing, regular and slow, to rapid. Since breathing is also an unconscious process, it is easy to miss the signs of approaching hyperventilation, so one must be observant. If you are not sure if you are at the beginning of hyperventilation, no harm, no foul, just proceed to the solution. Needless to say, if you are so agitated that you cannot pay attention to your breathing, then the method will not work because you will not be able to intervene. If there is any "string attached," it would be that: you must be observant.
If you go to YouTube and search for pursed-lip breathing, you will find tutorials—or just Google it. This is a breathing method which has been around for years and is used for COPD patients. For sufferers of anxiety attacks, it works 100%, when applied in time, because it reverses the blood pH disequilibrium, retaining carbon dioxide, and restoring normal pH.
Some thoughts. The 4-7-8 breathing method will likely work as well, but I haven’t tried it. I also do not know how effective this technique is once an anxiety attack is already present. This is because, since I learned this method about 1.5 years ago, I have never had another anxiety attack. Using this method, I have prevented around 75 or so anxiety attacks.
Now, this does not solve the anxiety problem, but it does solve the extreme end of the anxiety problem, the anxiety attack. My claim is that this method is 100% foolproof if you employ a correct regularization of breath method at the beginning of hyperventilation. I would very much like to hear several things: whether members are familiar with this cause and intervention, and, if you try it, report your response.
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