How To Reset Your Nervous System During A Panic Attack?

How To Reset Your Nervous System During A Panic Attack?

Sometimes panic attacks hit like a lightning bolt. It is sudden, intense, and often without any prior warning. While they feel psychological, they’re deeply physiological, rooted in how your autonomic nervous system processes threats in your environment. At the center of this system is the vagus nerve, the primary channel of your parasympathetic nervous system. Its job is to restore a sense of calm, regulate your heart rate, and signal to your body that you're indeed safe and there isn't any threat.


When the sympathetic nervous system, or “fight or flight,” takes over, the vagus nerve often struggles to bring calm and balance into the system. But with the right tools and activities, it can be done.


1. Pause & Breathe 

Whenever you are going through a panic attack, you should always start by pausing and breathing. Detach from the situation you are in and take a breather. Breathing exercises are a science-backed method that uses paced breathing techniques to activate the vagus nerve naturally. Techniques like visual breathing or slow humming are shown to improve heart rate variability (HRV), a key biomarker of stress recovery and vagus nerve stimulation benefits.


2. Reset Your Nervous System

InnerGize is a fantastic mental health wearable device for anxiety and stress that uses non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation (nVNS) to help you seek calm in chaos. Originally based on VNS treatment for epilepsy, InnerGize makes vagus nerve treatment at home safe and accessible without any surgery or medication.


3. Body-Mapping Check-Ins 

When it comes to mental health issues, it is better to have body-mapping check-ins. It allows you to go deeper and build interoceptive awareness of your brain's ability to sense internal body states. This practice helps identify early panic signals before they escalate. This is where the InnerGize App comes into play. It reads all your vitals, compares them to past data stored, and suggests mindful practices, exercises, or an InnerGize session to curb the panic attack.


InnerGize supports each technique step-by-step:

  • During “Pause & Breathe”, it enhances parasympathetic activation, accelerating the calming process.

  • During body-mapping, it helps read your autonomic signals and suggest precautions to ground you in the present.

  • After any episode, it aids in nervous system recovery, reducing lingering sympathetic dominance.

Clinical studies confirm that vagus nerve stimulation devices for anxiety can reduce panic severity, improve calmness, and build long-term emotional resilience for the betterment of your mental health. This isn’t just relaxation but a science-backed stress relief device at your rescue!

 

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