Behavioral Support for Anxiety and Panic

A rip current is one of the ocean’s greatest illusions. The current itself can look deceptively calm, lacking tumultuous whitecaps and luring swimmers into a false sense of security. The true danger isn’t the narrow ribbon of water beneath the surface carrying you away from the shore. It is the exhaustion from desperately trying to outswim it that causes a person to drown. In many ways, anxiety operates in a similar fashion. Panic attacks are often invisible to bystanders but utterly exhausting to those caught up in them.
 

During a panic attack, one might feel as though their lungs are burning, desperately searching for air while being pulled under. A rapid cascade of physical and neurological changes can overwhelm a person despite the absence of a tangible threat. Feeling your heart race, your thoughts spiral, and static streams of invisible needles puncturing your limbs all while feeling as though you just got plunged into a hot tub can be extremely scary and very real sensations. Those sensations are often coupled with attempting to suppress extreme nausea while experiencing tunnel vision all while sounds grow distant as if being carried out to some distant sea. That is the reality for many experiencing a panic attack and the consequences of a nervous system entering fight-or-flight mode. This can cause a state of dissociation as your body redirects blood flow and begins sensory filtering. Just like a rip current, the harder you fight it, the worse it becomes.
 

For some, there are obvious triggers. For others, the tide of panic rises suddenly without warning. The implications are often a quiet avoidance where one builds a mental prison one decision at a time desperate to avoid another attack. Anticipatory anxiety and anxiety sensitivity can become all consuming. Here at Saltwater Alchemy, we utilize ACT therapy, evidence-based behavioral interventions including shaping, differential reinforcement, graduated exposure, response prevention, stimulus fading, and behavioral activation from a trauma-informed lens to teach you how to swim parallel to the unexpected current instead of drowning in the emotional rip tide.