How the Anchoring Technique Can Help Panic Attacks
Panic can grip us at the most unexpected of times and when you experience a panic attack in public it can be doubly distressing. You have to battle the physical symptoms - not being able to breathe, the chest pains, the dizziness and the wobbly legs – and then the mental symptoms of feeling the world closing in on you into a pit of darkness and fear. But you are also stressed out by bringing unwanted attention to yourself and having a bunch of strangers peering at you and misguidedly ringing ambulances because they think you’re having a heart attack.
Related article: #Coronavirus: 5 Lung Strengthening Breathing Exercises to Reduce Anxiety
An excellent technique recommended by experts and favoured by sufferers during moments of fear and panic is the ‘Anchoring Technique.’ It’s about using a physical sensation (normally pressing on an acupressure point on your body) to concentrate on and anchor your thoughts and feelings on that point while you wait for the feelings of panic to subside and your breathing to return to normal. The effect of moving your awareness to a physical sensation instead of concentrating on the panic, helps to distance yourself from the symptoms of fearful feelings and calms you down quickly and easily.
How to use the anchoring technique
The easiest and most effective acupressure point to use is the webbed area on your hand in between your thumb and your first finger. Use the thumb from your other hand and just massage deep into the muscly part of the hand where your thumb and first finger meet. In Japanese shiatsu, this acupressure point is a high energy point that can release feelings of relaxation when pressed.
You can also use a word while you massage the point to focus your thoughts. It can be something simple like ‘Relax’ or you could use a phrase that a loved one has used in the past to calm you down. (I use the phrase ‘Easy Tiger’ as it’s something a good mate of mine would say to me whenever I was getting stressed out.)
So to demonstrate the anchoring technique, we made a short guided meditation below to help you get used to using this method. It really works. And for anyone who needs a bit of extra help, you can take a look at our two free online mental health and wellbeing courses which provides meditations, tip sheets and solid advice on how to reduce anxiety from a cognitive analytic therapist & senior psychiatric nurse and a mindfulness instructor. Just click on the button below to access both courses - no sign up needed.
NB: I used the technique recently when I was asked to record a podcast with LightHearts resident therapist & psychiatric nurse Liz Axham for National Stress Awareness Day with the Standard Issue team – a great resource of information and entertainment run by comedian Sarah Millican and her team Mickey Noonan, Jen Offord and Hannah Dunleavy. I was quite panicky about doing the public speaking thing and but I managed to beat my panic by using this anchoring technique and actually spoke for quite a while despite not having one drop of saliva in my mouth! To find out how I got through it, you can listen to the podcast by clicking HERE.
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