How to Stop a Panic Attack and Regain Control

Updated 16th July, 2026

Ask anyone who experiences panic attacks what they wish for most, and you can bet they’ll say:

“To be able to control and stop my panic”

A panic attack can make an ordinary moment feel suddenly dangerous. You might be in a supermarket queue, driving to work or talking with a friend when your heart races, your chest tightens and a wave of dread arrives. The thought often follows quickly: Something is terribly wrong.

In that moment, it is understandable to want the panic to stop.

Whilst there is no guaranteed switch that ends an attack instantly, you can interrupt the cycle, reduce its intensity, and help your body move through it. You can also change the fear of panic that often keeps attacks going. With practice and a few skills, you can learn to have greater control over your panic and stop it interfering with your life.

What is Happening During a Panic Attack?

A panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear or discomfort. Symptoms may include a pounding heart, sweating, shaking, breathlessness, dizziness, nausea, chest discomfort, tingling, or a sense that you are losing control, “going crazy” or dying. Unlike anxiety, panic attacks usually build quickly and peak within minutes.

These sensations come from the body’s alarm system. The fight, flight or freeze response prepares you for danger by changing your heart rate, breathing, muscle tension and attention. However, during a panic attack this alarm may fire even though there is no actual threat.

The experience is real and frightening. It is not a sign of weakness, and it does not mean you are losing your mind.

The Relationship Between Breathing and Panic

Older explanations sometimes describe panic as being caused entirely by hyperventilation. We now understand that panic is more complex. Thoughts, body sensations, stress, learning, biology and breathing can all play a part.

Due to the fight or flight response, it’s common for people to over-breathe during panic. Hyperventilation, or breathing too quickly, can lower carbon dioxide in the blood, increasing dizziness, tingling, chest tightness and feelings of breathlessness.

A feedback loop can then follow: the sensations in your body feel dangerous, so fear increases and accordingly so does your fight/flight response, therefore breathing becomes even faster.

Slowing your breathing can help break this loop, but it is one tool of many. Recent research suggests that breathing training can indeed reduce panic symptoms, although it is best understood as one part of a broader approach.

How to Stop a Panic Attack

1. Name what is happening

Try saying: “This is a panic response. My alarm system is activated, but it will settle.”

Naming the experience can create distance from thoughts such as “I’m dying” or “I can’t cope”. You do not need to feel completely convinced. You are simply offering your brain another explanation.

2. Breathe evenly and regularly

Rather than continuing to breathe shallowly and rapidly, let your breathing become slower and more regular. If you can, try to breathe out slightly longer than you breathe in.

You might breathe in gently through your nose for three seconds, then out for five seconds. Repeat without forcing it. If that count feels uncomfortable, shorten it and find a rhythm that feels manageable.

The goal is regularity, not taking in more air or achieving a perfect count of breaths. Do not breathe into a paper bag, as this is no longer recommended in Australian first-aid guidance.

3. Bring your attention outside your body

Panic pulls attention towards every heartbeat, breath and unusual sensation. Grounding can widen your focus.

Press your feet into the floor. Notice and name five things you can see, four you can feel and three you can hear. Or describe one object’s colour, shape and texture.

The aim is not perfect distraction. It is to remind yourself that there is more happening than the alarm you’re feeling, and to shift your attention away for just a moment.

4. Release some of the tension in your body

Panic often causes the body to brace for danger. You may clench your jaw, raise your shoulders, grip your hands or tense your stomach without realising it. This added tension can make the physical sensations feel even more intense.

See whether you can soften one part of your body at a time. Let your shoulders drop, loosen your hands, relax your jaw or allow your back to be supported by the chair beneath you.

You do not need to make your whole body relax. Even releasing a small amount of tension can make the experience feel more manageable while you wait for the wave of panic to pass.

5. Respond to the frightening thought

Panic often comes with frightening thoughts such as, “I’m having a heart attack”, “I’m going to lose control” or “I’m going crazy”. These thoughts can feel completely convincing in the moment, especially when the physical sensations are intense and seem to come out of nowhere.

It can help to remind yourself that panic creates a strong sense of danger, but a feeling is not the same as reality. Demanding that the sensations disappear can also add another layer of fear. Allowing some discomfort, while remembering it will rise and fall, can reduce the struggle.

You might say;

“This is my body’s alarm system. It feels frightening, but it will pass.”

Or:

“This feels awful, but feelings are not truth and I can tolerate this. I will be ok.”

What Helps Prevent Future Panic Attacks?

After an attack, self-compassion is important. Your body has been through an intense stress response; you have not failed. In the aftermath of an attack, practice being kind to yourself. You also might like to practice self-soothing. This can help you recover from the distress of the attack and reduce the self-criticism or worry that sometimes follows.

Learning to manage the urge to escape can also help prevent future panic attacks. Whilst leaving a situation immediately can bring relief from panic, repeated escape may teach the brain that the situation was dangerous and that you coped only because you got away.

When it is safe to do so, see whether you can remain until the intensity begins to fall. This is not about forcing yourself or ignoring genuine danger. If you are driving, pull over safely. Safety comes first.

If attacks recur, or fear of another attack begins to shrink your life, professional support can help. Cognitive behavioural therapy, or CBT, has strong evidence for panic disorder. We have many psychologists who treat panic attacks at our practice, who use evidence-based treatments like CBT to help you overcome your panic and move forwards with your life.

When Should Panic-Like Symptoms Be Medically Checked?

Whilst panic attacks themselves are not physically dangerous, panic symptoms can overlap with lung, thyroid and other medical conditions. In particular, people understandably get confused about the difference between a panic attack and a heart attack. If you’re unsure, seek medical assessment for a first episode, new or unusual symptoms, or attacks that keep returning.

Panic Does Pass and Doesn’t Have to Control You

A panic attack may feel like proof that you are unsafe or out of control. But it is better understood as an intense alarm response that may be out of proportion to what is happening around you.

You may not be able to command panic to instantly stop. However, you can slow the cycle: recognise the alarm, soften your breathing, widen your attention, answer catastrophic thoughts and allow the wave to move through. With practice and appropriate support, panic can become less frightening, less powerful, and less able to interrupt your life.

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If you struggle with panic attacks, you might like to read about what makes anxiety worse. People who struggle with panic attacks may also benefit from support for social anxiety or anxiety treatment support more generally.