How to Manage Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Season 1 Episode 12
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If you feel like your anxiety and stress have intensified since COVID-19, you're not alone. Nearly half of Asian Americans have reported anxiety during the pandemic, according to a recent report by Stop AAPI Hate.
This is a mini podcast episode focused on panic attacks: what they are, where they come from and what we can do about it. I'm also going to share my own personal recent experience with panic attacks as a mom, wife, entrepreneur, daughter, sister, and human.
Let us know if you want more of these Thrive Spice Guides - simple, practical yet personal guides to common mental health challenges, tailored for Asian Americans and the AAPI community. Send us a DM on Instagram @thrivespice or email us at "info" @ thrivespicemedia.com.
Thrive Spice Podcast Show Notes:
How to Deal With a Panic Attack
Practice these 5 steps to get to safety - physically, emotionally and psychologically.
1. Physical Assessment. Stop and get to safe space where you can recover. Breathe. Drink some water. Have you eaten yet? (There’s a reason why Asian parents always ask!)
2. Practice Extreme Mindfulness by Zooming In. Use your five senses to listen to sounds, sights, smells, etc to become aware of your surroundings.
3. Zoom Out with Compassion - Imagine yourself as the lead character in a movie. What external or internal circumstances are making this moment difficult in their life right now?
4. Ask For Help. Talk to a therapist, family member, friend (Need help finding a mental health professional? Additional resources are listed below for AAPI community)
5. Practice Gratitude. Your body is trying to tell you something. What else can you be grateful for in this difficult moment?
Mental Health Resources for the Asian American (AAPI) community
(source: this article from verywellmind.com also does a deep dive into how racial trauma and discrimination affect our mental, emotional and physical health.)
Asian American Psychological Association
The Asian American Psychological Association (AAPA) focuses on using research, education, policy, and professional practice to advance the mental health and well-being of Asian American communities.
In addition to advocacy and research, AAPA also provides fact sheets on Asian American mental health concerns, anti-bullying information, and Asian American LGBTQ resources.
Asian Mental Health Collective
The Asian Mental Health Collective is an organization focused on de-stigmatizing mental health within Asian communities. It provides the APISAA Therapist Directory, a directory of therapists located in most states and Washington, DC who specialize in serving Asian American, South Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities.
National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association
The National Asian American Pacific Islander Mental Health Association (NAAPIMHA) is a resource provider for mental health services for Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Native Hawaiians. The organization provides a resource list of state-level programs designed to meet AAPI-community mental health needs.
In addition to a list of services available in all 50 states, the organization also provides links to general mental health resources.
South Asian Mental Health Initiative & Network
The South Asian Mental Health Initiative & Network (SAMHIN) is a non-profit that works to address the mental health needs of South Asian folks living in the United States.
It provides a list of mental health providers who specialize in offering services to the South Asian community. In addition, its provider directory allows you to search by languages spoken, location, and service type.
National Alliance on Mental Illness
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) offers a section of its website with resources specifically for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
In addition to providing an overview of some barriers to mental health care for members of these communities (including stigma, language barriers, and lack of culturally competent providers), NAMI also has seminars available in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese, as well as links to culturally sensitive support groups.
Asian American Health Initiative
The Asian American Health Initiative (AAHI) was created by the Maryland Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. While its mission is to improve the health and wellness of Asian Americans living in Montgomery Country, Maryland, the site also provides useful general resources in Traditional Chinese, Korean, Hindi, and Vietnamese languages.
Topics covered include getting mental health care, dealing with stress, building resilience, and staying active for well-being.
National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance
The National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (NQAPIA) brings together lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) organizations.
Its goal is to help local groups by providing education, leadership development, collaboration, and visibility to help challenge racism and anti-LGBTQ bias. It also provides a directory of Asian and Pacific Islander healers and therapists.
Social Mental Health Resources
There are also a number of great Instagram accounts that offer mental health information and resources for Asian communities. Some accounts to follow include:
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episode music courtesy of Uppbeat [ATM]
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Full transcript of Thrive Spice Season 1 Episode 12 - Vanessa Shiliwala on Managing Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Full Interview Transcript
Hey everyone. It's Vanessa. I'm trying something new. So today we're going to be doing a mini podcast episode focused on panic attacks, amidst recent statistics from stop AAPI hate showing that nearly half of Asian-Americans have reported anxiety during the pandemic. I'm also going to share my own personal recent experience with panic attacks as a mom, wife, entrepreneur, daughter, sister, and human.
I just want to let you know that you are not alone. We are going to get through this together. Recently. I found myself having a panic attack. I share this with you today in efforts to normalize the fact that many of us suffer from anxiety and it can manifest in many ways, anxiety is not just mental. It causes physiological changes in the body that can lead to panic attacks.
The CDC recently released a report on mental health during the pandemic between August, 2020 - February, 2021. The percentage of adults with symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder during the past seven days increased significantly. From 36.4% to 41.5% as did the percentage reporting that they needed, but did not receive mental health counseling or therapy during the past four weeks from 9.2% to 11.7%. Increases were largest among adults ages 18 to 29, and among those with less than a high school education. Stop AAPI hate also released a report on mental health in the Asian American community this May, and they found that almost half of Asian-Americans 46% report anxiety during the pandemic with 15% having depressive symptoms, six out of 10 62% of the respondents indicated that they had also directly experienced some active form of discrimination.
Those who reported experiencing discrimination report and more depression, a 155% increase anxiety and 93% stress, 94% and physical complaints, 78% than those who didn't. So if we take a step back and think about what is general anxiety, according to the national Institute of mental health, the symptoms of general anxiety may include feeling restless or on edge, feeling fatigued, often difficulty focusing, irritability, excessive feelings of worry that are difficult to control and difficulty sleeping. So what actually happens during a panic attack symptoms of a panic attack include heart palpitations or increased heart rate sweating or chills, shaking trembling, shortness of breath, a sense of terror and feeling a loss of control.
So what was my panic attack like and what did I do? Okay. So here's what happened. I just dropped off my kids at their new school and I was alone in the car when suddenly my stomach churned, my chest tightened up as if an iron fist was closing in around my rib cage. And I found myself gasping for breath for the next 10 minutes.
The last time I had struggled to breathe as much I had been in labor. My body was trying to tell me something and I was forced to listen. So what can we do when our bodies put on the emergency lights and bring our busy lives to a screeching halt?
First, assess the biological or physical elements. Breathe. That is the most important thing. Drink some water. Have you eaten yet? Seriously? There's a reason why Asian parents always ask you this. Stop what you're doing. Get to safety or a safe place. Your body's trying to tell you that this is an emergency. If you're driving, please pull over. Practice extreme mindfulness by zooming in, listen to sounds, sights, use your five senses to become aware of your surroundings.
I started looking at the trees and listening to the sound of my breath. Next, zoom out with compassion. Imagine yourself in a movie book or TV show as the main character. What circumstances both externally and internally are making this moment in their life. Difficult. When I did this, I realized it was very obvious why I was going through a panic attack.
My mind was on overload and my body was undernourished. My three-year-old had been experiencing sleep regression for four weeks, which meant my sleep deprivation had become chronic and stressful and impacted my energy and patience. We'd just come back from our first international trip with our two toddlers, which was no picnic and a week with my in-laws staying at our house during which my toddler refused to wear clothes the entire time, was stressful. My kids were both struggling to transition to their new schools and their dad returning to work in the city, which meant managing lots of screaming and crying in our morning and evening routines. And in addition to the sleep deprivation, I had several interviews that week . As I zoomed out, I had compassion for myself as a mother, entrepreneur, wife, and human.
I was going through a lot. A panic attack was not a sign of failure, but merely a distress signal from my body. Then: gratitude. Once I realized my body was trying to tell me something to warn me before things got worse, I had gratitude for the miraculous ways that we can heal ourselves. Our bodies have systems of checks and balances to alert us when things are out of balance.
And we need to take a moment to slow down. And finally, I can't stress this enough. Please reach out for help. I called my mom, who told me that she had actually experienced similar anxiety attacks when she was a young working mother in her thirties. She had never told me that before. I also talked to my therapist about ways to reduce stress and anxiety in my daily life. I did a 10 minute meditation and also went for a bike ride later that day. Did it immediately get rid of my anxiety in all forms? No, but it definitely helped me get through and even have gratitude and gain perspective. I want to let you know that if you or someone you know, is experiencing anxiety, you are not alone.
And there are ways to get help. Please do not feel ashamed to be experiencing anxiety or depression. It literally affects nearly half of us. I want to circle back and share some more statistics from stop AAPI hate to help us understand why Asian Americans might be experiencing higher levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and mental health issues.
Right now, there is a lot going on in the world. And we don't have to do it alone. Lastly, I'm not going to pretend I'm a mental health expert. I'm simply someone else who is also on their own mental health journey and who has figured out that asking for help, going to therapy and having a meditation and mindfulness mindset is better than bearing it alone.
So I ask what has helped you manage anxiety, stress, or depression during the pandemic? Have you had experience with panic attacks? If so, what helped you. Please comment on our Instagram @thrivespice or email me at info at thrivespicemedia.com. We want to de-stigmatize the topics for our community because there shouldn't be shame around wanting to get help and help others.
So the statistics from Stop AAPI hate are as follows: Asian Americans who have experienced racism are more stressed by anti-Asian hate than the pandemic itself. One in five Asian Americans who have experienced racism, display racial trauma, which is the psychological and emotional harm caused by racism.
After reporting, Asian-Americans who have experienced racism have lower race-based traumatic stress, meaning if they reported the discrimination or bias incident, they have lower rates of traumatic stress. Which really means documenting and talking about it matters not only for your mental health and your physical health, but for the community. Asian-Americans who have experienced racism, have heightened symptoms of depression, anxiety, stress, and physical symptoms.
So it's not just in your head. It's not just, you. Lastly, experience of racism during COVID-19 is found to be more strongly associated with post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms. I want to hear from you about the way that anxiety and depression and stress show up in your lives, particularly during this very trying time and frankly never ending pandemic or that's what it feels like sometimes.
I wanted to share my own personal experience today because the whole mission of this podcast here at thrive spice is to just help normalize what literally half of us go through. And we don't talk about it enough. And I want to change that. So please tell us about what your experience is with managing anxiety or panic attacks.
Let's talk about it. Let's share resources. I want to hear from you. You can, again, connect with us at Instagram @thrivespice or via email at info at thrive spice media.com. Lastly, please tune in next week for an exciting new podcast episode and Instagram live session featuring Lillian So, a therapist, life coach, and co-author of the new book, Fit CEO.
She has a cult-like following an incredible community and she keeps it real. You don't want to miss. We're going to talk about why investing in yourself and asking for help is the ultimate boss. Move her own personal journey in navigating emotionally abusive and toxic relationships and how not to give away our power and manifest our dream life.
Thank you so much for joining us here at thrive spice, a podcast about mental health, joy, and resilience for Asian Americans. Hey listeners. We want to hear from you, tell us what you think of the podcast, which episode was your favorite? And let us know if you'd like to share your own mental health story or nominate someone to be on our podcast.
Please email us at info at thrivespicemedia.com. And if listening to this conversation has inspired or helped you in any way. Please subscribe, leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts and show us some love on Instagram, YouTube, or Facebook @Thrivespice. You can also support us at kofi.com/thrivespice.