Here are some suggestions to stop panic attacks. First, practice taking deep breaths. Deep breathing is also known as diaphragmatic breathing and is the key to maintaining normal breathing during panic attacks. However, when you experience a panic attack you are in no position to remember how to breathe using your diaphragm rather than your chest. That is why one of the first suggestions to stop panic attacks you will ever hear is practicing how to breathe with the diaphragm. Eventually, your practice will become a second habit and your body will continue diaphragmatic breathing even during panic attacks, leaving you that much safer.

This type of breathing is also used during meditation. Deep breathing slows down the body and sends more oxygen to the brain. This is helpful in avoiding the dizziness or tingling sensations experienced during panic attacks. Diaphragmatic breathing does not come automatically to most people because we are all chest breathers by default, which is why you need to practice it. For those people who suffer from anxiety disorders this is one of the basic suggestions to stop panic attacks. During times when you are not anxious you must practice in different positions like sitting, standing, walking, running, and exercising until it becomes the default way that you breathe.

There are many exercises that you can use for this purpose. Lie down on your back and place one hand on the chest and the other on the diaphragm. When you breathe in, your upper abdomen must move up and your chest must remain steady. Press down on the chest if required. When you do this the first time, your heart rate will go up and you might even have palpitations. Do not be distracted but simply resume once you are feeling comfortable again. Breathe in and out slowly in this fashion. Remember that your body is not used to it so it will resist. Some people might find it effective to lie facedown as this constricts chest movement. Paper bags are also helpful. Breathe in and out of your mouth completely inflating and deflating the paper bag.

More suggestions to stop panic attacks would include self-distraction. This is basically forcing the mind to pay attention on something besides the cause or fact of panic attacks. Put a rubber band around your wrist and snap it gently. The basic idea is to get some real physical discomfort to counter the discomfort brought on by imaginary sources.

One of the more difficult suggestions to stop panic attacks is to maintain objectivity when you are having an attack. This means that when you are feeling that impending doom or imminent death type sensation you should be practical enough to convince yourself that you are merely thinking all this up and that it is not going to really happen. This might sound difficult but the human mind is wonderfully responsive to such statements and the more sincerely you make them to yourself the better you will cope with panic attacks.

The overall objective is to always focus on the truth and facts of your surroundings rather than whatever you are imagining in your state of panic.