It's hard to breathe. Your chest feels heavy, like something is sitting on it. You can hear your own heartbeat. Your palms are sweaty. It's difficult to think straight. The room seems to be spinning. These are all symptoms of a panic attack; and if you suffer from them, you are not alone.

Victims of anxiety attacks most often feel alone and find themselves ashamed of their reactions to everyday situations and even when these attacks are logical, victims feel inferior to others. To get help however, you need to overcome this feeling of shame. Although medication is used by some for major attacks, many people have discovered the use of the anxiety self help techniques.

You must understand that your body's natural "fight or flight" instinct triggers panic attacks. Perceiving that a threat is immanent, your natural mental and nervous defense mechanisms are activated, despite the logical knowledge that no actual harm is on the horizon. To battle anxiety, you need to be fully cognizant of the actual reality you are encountering.

One popular anxiety self help technique is a form of self hypnosis. When the panic starts to overtake you, inhale deeply. Exhale. Repeat this several times. Count backwards from ten or twenty, all the while purposely breathing in and out. Start at your feet and concentrate on relaxing your muscles all the way up your body.

One tool that people use to assist them in overcoming attacks is visualization. This is accomplished by thinking about a "safe place" in their mind, perhaps a beautiful nature spot. It might also be a favorite location or place from childhood or a favorite room in the house. When the initial symptoms of a panic attack ensue, the individual imagines being in the safe space, and they will begin to feel more at-ease and able to handle the stress.

If these anxiety self help techniques do not reduce your symptoms, you might need to do some further investigating. There are several books and websites dedicated to providing symptom-reduction tips to anxiety attack sufferers. Don't allow the panic attacks to control you. With a little work, you can have terrific results.

In order to have a more comfortable life, you should learn how to stop panic attacks. You will not fear to go out public places since you will learn that you can manage reactions of your body to the environmental stimulus. Even though, you may have symptoms of a panic attack, you will be self-assured since you can defeat them.