What should you do if a panic attack catches you at a practice or competition?

Psychiatrist, psychiatrist, psychotherapist, somnologist, lecturer at the Department of the NWSMU named after I. I. Mechnikov.

Acute anxiety attack, reaching the level of panic, can happen to anyone. The situation is unpleasant, frightening, but it is especially significant if the panic attack occurs during an important competition/tournament in an athlete.

What to do if a panic attack occurs during sports?

In professional sports it is mandatory not only to pump physical performance, strength, endurance, will, but also the psychological component, self-regulation and self-control.

The most common reaction to what happens in a panic attack is to fight. First of all, you need to reduce the growing tension, abstract and relax, wait out the storm. It is important to know: no one has ever died from it, you will come to normal.

Quickly help yourself in the rolling panic can be with the help of breathing techniques (diaphragmatic breathing, breathing on the square on 4), autotraining.

Relaxation according to Jacobson is considered a good method. To do this, it is necessary to identify the most tense muscle groups in a stressful situation. Then feel this state and let go of the tightness, relax.

It is important to introduce these techniques and exercises into your daily routine along with your workouts. They help stabilize the autonomic nervous system when stress hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline, cortisol – catecholamines) increase in the blood.

This is followed by a cascade of reactions: increased heart rate, frequent shallow breathing, cold sweat, increased blood pressure, numbness, parasthesias, nausea and fear of unconsciousness. Breathing exercises can help you cope.

What can cause a panic attack?

If the competition for the athlete is of special importance, the right level of adrenaline can play a “bear service”.

And here it is important to investigate the athlete’s personality and his or her relationship with significant people. More often it can be the relationship with the coach, team, mentor, opponent, maybe parents and their attitude to victories and defeats.

A disturbed relationship “with a significant other,” that is, someone who is important to a person’s life, such as a family member or close friend, also leads to panic attacks.

“Climate” and the atmosphere surrounding the athlete in the present, as well as possible “long-standing” psychological traumas of the past also play an important role in stress.

How to avoid it?

An attempt to control everything and take it under one’s power can lead to decompensation – inactivity of defense mechanisms that usually lead to deterioration (aggravation) of a person’s psychological state.

Adequate self-esteem, positive reinforcement of victories and defeats, self-regulation skills, autotraining techniques allow to pass the way of stressful situations at competitions without panic attacks. And if you need help – it is better to turn to a psychotherapist.