Therapists Say This 1 Easy Hack Can Help With A Panic Attack

Panic disorder affects millions of people; even people without mental illness can experience the symptoms.Symptoms include sweating, tingling in the hands, rapid heartbeat, trembling, feelings of impending doom and fear of death.

Of course, no one wants to put up with that kind of pain.That’s why Jennifer Anders, the Colorado psychologist who runs The.Anxiety.Doc Instagram account, posted a video showing her followers a way to stop panic attacks.The video, posted last summer, garnered 2.7 million views and tens of thousands of likes — and is still being shared on the platform.

Anders calls this mental health tip the “Lemon Panic Attack Secret,” and that’s exactly what it sounds like.In the video, she tells viewers to slice a lemon and put it in their mouth the next time they feel a panic attack coming on.

The Lemon Panic Treatment is to bring awareness to the body and the present moment, so it is a foundational tool.

Think about it: when you suck on a lemon, your mouth immediately starts to crinkle and you feel the sourness.

It takes your attention away from the constant cycle of negative thoughts, shifts it to the present moment, and helps you connect with your surroundings, which is lemon.

You may even find yourself inhaling deeply after tasting the sour flavor.

What it actually does is help you separate the mind from the thoughts and bring awareness into the body.This is what we try to do …… whenever we have a panic attack.

If you don’t have lemons on hand, you can also substitute acidic candies like Warheads.

Victoria Riordan ), a therapist at Thriveworks in Columbus, Ohio, who also shares mental health advice on social media, says that while she hasn’t heard of using lemons exclusively, she has heard of using other foods like chocolate to prevent panic attacks.Riordan says that makes sense based on classic panic attack treatments.

When you have a panic attack, your sympathetic nervous system goes into overdrive.

Our sympathetic nervous system is a neural network that helps us activate our nerves so that we can respond quickly to stressful situations.

Your sympathetic nervous system is triggered when you have a fight, flight, freeze response, and it’s designed to keep you out of danger.

Any sensory intervention (such as using taste or smell) can help you get rid of the fight, flight or freeze response.Sensory components are perfect because our brains use our senses first to determine if we are in danger or not.

But when you have a panic attack, your body has a hard time distinguishing between what is dangerous and what is safe.You may be in a completely safe environment, but your brain and body interpret your surroundings as a threat.

This is where sensory tools (like biting a lemon) come in handy.This method is also known as grounding techniques.According to Anders, they draw your physical and mental attention and bring your thoughts back to the present moment – similar to positive thinking.

This is not the case for those who experience panic attacks as a result of intense experiences.

Anxiety about terrible and tragic things is a normal reaction; in fact, I think it’s justified.

In a way, the adrenaline surge is helpful because it’s part of the fight or flight response, it gets you excited and makes you take action, but what we don’t like is when your body produces this physiological experience without a stressor.

In addition to this technique, it is important to seek mental health support.

It’s important to take care of your health so you can live your life uninhibited.You can’t – and shouldn’t – eat lemons or sour candies day after day to control your panic attacks.

Seek treatment to be able to do this so that your fear of panic attacks doesn’t make your panic worse

Part of this work includes learning how to best care for mental health before it reaches a tipping point.

The real golden rule is to combine these things with psychoeducation, which is learning how to be aware of how your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are interconnected.Learning doesn’t mean just knowing the secret to panic attacks, but learning how to regulate your mind and body.

While it’s important to have the tools to manage panic attacks, this lemon trick won’t help you get to the root of the problem, which is a necessary part of the mental health journey.

When you’re dealing with this sort of thing, it’s important to get to the root cause and understand that avoidance is not the right way to deal with anxiety.It makes sense that many people naturally tend to avoid triggers when they experience panic attacks and anxiety.But this actually makes the situation more difficult because it leads to a mental block in your mind; avoidance only exacerbates your stress.

Also, while this lemon therapy can help reduce anxiety in the moment, Anders says it may not last all day-you may feel anxious again in 10 minutes.

It won’t help you with anxiety overall, but it can help you train your brain and body to come back to the present moment instead of dwelling on your thoughts all the time.

That’s why it’s crucial to seek extra support from a therapist and use tools like lemon therapy to manage anxiety.You deserve to feel safe and calm every day – not just one moment.