How Long Can a Panic Attack Last: Breaking Down the Timeline
It’s never happened to you before, but suddenly you feel anxious. Your hands begin to shake and you can’t stop thinking something bad is about to happen. It feels like an elephant has taken up residence on your chest and each breath becomes difficult. What is happening and how long will these feelings last?
This is the feeling of a panic attack, and 11% of people in the U.S. experience one each year. They can be debilitating in the moment, but in reality, these panic attacks are short-lived.
Clean Recovery Centers has been treating mental health conditions and substance use disorders along the Suncoast communities. Our blog serves as a resource for those looking to learn more about these conditions. Today, we are answering the question: How long does a panic attack last?
Panic Attacks Explained: What They Are & Why They Happen
A panic attack is a sudden, intense episode of fear or anxiety that triggers physical and emotional symptoms. Unlike general anxiety, which builds gradually, panic attacks appear abruptly with or without a trigger. They cause the body’s fight or flight response to kick in despite no perceived danger being present.
Panic attacks are a distinct characteristic of panic disorder, though they can occur for other reasons. Certain medical conditions, substance use, and even caffeine can also cause attacks. For many, panic attacks occur randomly, while others experience them in response to specific triggers, such as crowded spaces, social interactions, or stressful situations.
How Long Do Panic Attacks Last? The Truth About Their Duration
One of the most distressing aspects of a panic attack is its unpredictability, but understanding the duration can help ease some of the worry. Typically, a panic attack lasts between 5 to 20 minutes, with the peak of symptoms occurring within the first 10 minutes. However, some attacks may persist for up to an hour, though this is less common.
Though in the moment it feels like forever, panic attacks are time-limited. The body can only sustain the heightened state of alertness for so long before it naturally begins to calm down. While the attack itself may be short-lived, lingering symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, or a general sense of unease often continue for hours.
The Life Cycle of a Panic Attack: What to Expect
Understanding the life cycle of a panic attack can help you feel more prepared and in control when one occurs. In general, a panic attack follows a 3-step pattern:
- The initial onset: Panic attacks are sometimes triggered by specific situations, while others appear without warning. The initial onset involves a rush of adrenaline leading to a sense of impending danger or fear.
- Escalation of symptoms and fear: Within minutes, symptoms intensify, including rapid heart rate, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, sweating, trembling, chest pain, and a sense of detachment from reality. Feelings of doom, approaching death, and loss of control are at their highest during this time.
- Gradual recovery: After several minutes, the body starts to regulate itself, breathing slows, and symptoms subside. If the attack occurred somewhere with other people around, embarrassment and anxiety may continue until you are able to get to a space where you feel safe.
Residual symptoms of fatigue and overwhelming emotion are common after a panic attack and can last for hours. The reason behind this is the body being in stress-response mode. Imagine driving up to a four-way stop and the car to your left runs the stop sign almost hitting you. The body will automatically trigger your stress response, tensing your muscles and increasing your heart rate. This causes you to react by hitting the brakes, honking the horn, or taking measures to avoid the collision. After this happens, it takes you a minute for you to calm down and you will feel fatigue in your muscles. The same happens after every panic attack.
In the Moment: How to Calm Yourself During a Panic Attack
In the midst of a panic attack, your mind and body can feel uncontrollable. There are several techniques to help manage the symptoms and keep you calm in the moment:
- Focus on improving your breathing: Slow, deep breaths counteract hyperventilation and help settle your heart rate. One method is the 4-7-8 – inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds.
- Practice grounding techniques: Engaging your senses helps with staying present. The “5-4-3-2-1” method (naming five things you see, four you can touch, three you hear, two you smell, and one you taste) can shift focus away from panic and reconnect you with reality.
- Challenge negative thoughts: As negative thoughts arise, counteract them with truth. An example would be asking yourself what evidence there is to make this the worst-case scenario when catastrophizing.
- Find a distraction: Redirecting your mind is a great way to combat panic. Try listening to music, counting backward from 100, or reciting a favorite poem or mantra.
- Change environments: If possible, move to a quieter or less stimulating location to help calm your nerves and reduce stress.
To implement these techniques, try practicing them regularly, even when you are not experiencing a panic attack.
Supporting Someone Through a Panic Attack: 9 Things to Say & Do
Your response can make a significant difference if you’re with someone experiencing a panic attack. The goal is to provide reassurance without dismissing their feelings. Here are 9 tips for you to help:
- Stay calm: Panic and stress only fuel more panic and stress. By speaking slowly and keeping your tone gentle and reassuring, you will help keep the situation and the person calm.
- Validate their experience: Avoid phrases that are not supportive, such as “Just calm down” or “It’s all in your head.” Their feelings are very real and scary; acknowledge this and reassure them they are in a safe space.
- Guide their breathing: Encourage slow, deep breaths by breathing with them. Inhale through the nose and exhale through the mouth to help with hyperventilation.
- Offer physical reassurance: Holding their hand or placing a hand on their back can be comforting and grounding, but always ask first as some find physical touch increases panic.
- Remove stressors: If possible, guide them to a quieter, more comfortable space with fewer stressors.
- Avoid pressuring them to talk: Let them set the pace of communication. Some may want to talk, while others need silence.
- Remind them it will pass: Reassure them that the panic attack will subside, even if it doesn’t feel that way in the moment.
- Stay until they recover: Remain with them until they feel more stable. Even if they ask for space, stay close enough to ensure they are safe.
- Encourage self-care afterward: Panic attacks take a toll on the body and mind. Suggest drinking water, taking a rest, washing their face and hands, or doing a relaxing activity such as reading.
Getting Treatment for Panic Disorder in Tampa, FL
Living in fear of the next panic attack can have you avoiding the people and places you love, but it doesn’t have to be this way forever. Treatment for panic disorder will give you the skills needed to reduce the frequency of attacks while arming you with the tools to keep fear and worry in check. Through guided therapies, medications, and coping mechanism development, you will be free to go where you want and see whomever you please without the looming fear of a panic attack. There is no need to keep worrying, panic disorder treatment can change your life today.
Untreated panic disorder can have you in a constant state of distress, but there are options available for relief and a bright future. Clean Recovery Centers offers a full-spectrum mental health program for panic disorder that addresses every aspect of the condition. Through our unique, three-phase approach, our compassionate team provides cognitive self-management techniques and personal growth development strategies to help you cope with panic as it arises. Call us today at (888) 330-2532 to learn more about our program offerings.
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