The Sneaky Panic That Hit Home...

Growing up, I never had a happy-go-lucky attitude towards life, was a quite-agitated child, not a very good combination in my opinion. Too defensive. Loved to isolate in face of confrontations. TOO OBSERVANT. Whatever happened around me, I used to quietly absorb it. Learn from it. Learnt patience too early, though not very much as a virtue but as a survival mechanism. So, when someone would say anything to me, I used to listen and not react and simply thought i didn’t pay attention and let it go and this happened for quite a while until one day, when someone was yelling at me, I remained numb as I listened and then something happened, I started to feel a vacuum in my chest, a little uneasiness set in, I was maybe trying to cry but couldn’t, started to choke a little trying to breath. I’d always wondered how does someone know when a panic attack occurs to them, and while all of this was happening, I realized, I was having one. We are often told that panic attacks are usually dramatic with a number of exaggerated symptoms but that’s not necessarily true. Panic Attacks don’t occur in just a single day or instance. It spreads it’s roots quietly, slowly, deeply. It is not until after a long time, that we realize what we were keeping in, we didn’t let go of, comes out in a way that wrecks our nervous system completely, silently.

 A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause to it. It’s an overwhelming feeling of losing control accompanied by sweating, trembling, racing heart, shortness of breath, chest pain, etc.

MANAGE IT DURING

THE 3-3-3 RULE

Managing Panic Attacks is something that’s based off of mindfulness. Practicing breathing exercises can really help one calm down. Let’s take a look into a simple yet amazing tool for managing the anxiety and panic.

The 3-3-3 rule for panic attacks is a simple grounding technique to shift focus from overwhelming anxiety to the present moment by engaging your senses. It's a mindfulness tool to interrupt anxious spirals and regain a sense of control by anchoring you to your immediate surroundings.

How to do the 3-3-3 rule:

See: Look around and name three specific things you can see (e.g., a lamp, a blue pen, a crack in the wall).

Hear: Identify three distinct sounds (e.g., a clock ticking, traffic outside, your own breathing).

Move: Name three body parts you can move or feel (e.g., wiggle your fingers, tap your foot, rotate your wrist).

This tool pulls your attention from racing, anxious thoughts to tangible things in your environment and uses sensory awareness to bring you into the "here and now," a core principle of mindfulness. It provides a mental break from the distress of the panic attacks.

Real-Life Save: 3-3-3 in Action

Picture this: It was the midterm week, library corner, notes blurring as my chest locked up tight, my heart was slamming as my breaths became shallow, and that familiar dread whispering “you’re done.” I literally had NO TIME  for a full meltdown with a psych paper being due next. I froze, then hit the 3-3-3:

1. The first thing I did, was naming three sights: the lamp’s warm glow, a blue pen’s sharp tip, notes scattered all over my desk.

2. Moving on, I focused on three sounds that I could catch: distant page flips, the AC’s low hum, my own heavy breathing.

3. I moved three parts of my body: wiggled my fingers loose, tapped my foot steady, rolled my wrist free.

In under a minute, the spin slowed. Thoughts began to unwind, breath evened out, focus snapped back, it was like a sky starting to clear out after a good dose of heavy rain, like flipping a switch from chaos to clear. Afterwards, I finished the paper, relaxing and in time, no crash later. It wasn’t magic, just senses yanking me to know when panic tried to drag me under. You slip it in your pocket now, in the next spiral, it delivers.

At the end of the day, we all have certain stressors in our everyday lives which need an outlet in order to efficiently regulate our emotions and nervous system. It is always better to practice healthy tools which aid in our holistic healing and help us avoid encountering anxiety and panic attacks.

Panic’s no mere buzz, it’s the deep leach of trapped gasps, fear frenzies, locked turmoil robbing your spark bit by bit.

Flip side? Clever pauses, sense locks, trigger skips forge control YOU own.           

Hardest move? Stepping up while fear hisses bail. Salute that fire, and see it fade.