Can EMDR Help with Panic Attacks in the Moment?
When a panic attack hits, you want relief now. Your heart may be racing, your chest may feel tight, your thoughts may be moving quickly, and your body may feel as though something is terribly wrong. If you are wondering whether EMDR can stop a panic attack while it is happening, the answer is a little more complicated. EMDR is not typically used to stop an active panic attack in the moment. Instead, EMDR can help address the underlying experiences and nervous system responses that may contribute to recurring panic over time.
That distinction is important. When you are in the middle of a panic attack, your immediate goal is to help your body recognize that you are safe. EMDR can become part of the longer-term healing process that helps reduce the intensity and frequency of these responses.
Key Takeaways
EMDR is not generally an in-the-moment technique for stopping a panic attack.
EMDR may help process experiences that contribute to ongoing panic and anxiety.
Learning ways to regulate your nervous system can help you manage panic when it happens.
With the right support, panic does not have to control your life.
What happens during a panic attack?
A panic attack can feel overwhelming because your body's alarm system is activated very quickly. You may experience a racing heart, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, shaking, chest discomfort, nausea, or a feeling that you are losing control.
You may also experience frightening thoughts. Some people worry that they are having a heart attack, going to faint, going crazy, or that something terrible is about to happen.
Even when you understand that you are not actually in danger, your body may not feel convinced.
This is one reason panic can be so confusing. You may know logically that you are safe while your nervous system is responding as though you are facing an immediate threat.
Can EMDR stop a panic attack while it is happening?
EMDR is not designed to be an emergency technique for stopping an active panic attack.
During a panic attack, the first priority is helping yourself get through the immediate wave of fear and physical symptoms. Grounding, slowing your breathing, orienting yourself to your surroundings, and reminding yourself that the sensations will pass may help your nervous system begin to settle.
EMDR is different. It is a structured therapy that is typically done during scheduled sessions with a trained therapist. Rather than trying to make a panic attack disappear immediately, EMDR works to process distressing experiences and the emotional and physical responses connected to them.
For someone who experiences recurring panic, this can be an important part of understanding why the body continues to react as though there is danger.
How can EMDR help with panic over time?
Panic does not always seem connected to a specific traumatic event. Sometimes a person can identify where their panic began, while other people simply notice that their body has become increasingly sensitive to certain sensations, situations, or emotions.
For some people, panic may be connected to a frightening experience, a traumatic event, a period of overwhelming stress, or memories that still feel emotionally unresolved.
EMDR can help you process these experiences so they no longer carry the same emotional intensity.
This is part of why EMDR can be helpful for people who understand their anxiety intellectually but still feel it physically. You may know that you are safe, but your body may continue reacting as though something bad is about to happen.
When the underlying experiences are processed, the goal is not simply to think differently about what happened. It is to help your mind and body respond differently.
Why does panic feel so physical?
Panic is not “just in your head.” Your nervous system plays a major role in the experience.
When your brain perceives danger, your body can respond by preparing you to fight, flee, or protect yourself. Your heart rate increases. Your breathing may change. Your muscles may tense. You may become highly alert to sensations inside your body.
Once these sensations begin, they can create a cycle.
You notice your heart racing.
You become frightened by the sensation.
Your fear increases your body's alarm response.
The physical sensations become stronger.
You become even more afraid.
For someone who has experienced repeated panic attacks, even a familiar body sensation can become a trigger. A fast heartbeat after climbing stairs, for example, may suddenly remind you of a previous panic attack. Your brain may interpret that sensation as a warning, and the cycle can begin again.
This is one reason treatment for panic often involves helping you understand both the emotional and physical sides of what you are experiencing.
Can EMDR help if panic is connected to trauma?
Yes, this can be an area where EMDR may be particularly relevant.
Trauma can affect the way your nervous system responds to perceived danger. Even after the original event is over, reminders of what happened can continue to activate fear, tension, avoidance, or hypervigilance.
Sometimes the connection between trauma and panic is obvious. Other times, it may not be.
You might not consciously think about the experience when you panic. Instead, a particular sensation, situation, relationship dynamic, or emotional state may activate a response that feels much bigger than the present moment seems to warrant.
EMDR focuses on helping the brain process distressing memories and experiences so that they can become less emotionally overwhelming. Research has found EMDR can be effective for reducing symptoms associated with panic disorder, although the evidence base for panic is smaller than it is for some of the conditions for which EMDR is more established.
That means EMDR may be one part of a personalized treatment approach rather than a quick solution for an individual panic attack.
What should I do if I am having a panic attack right now?
If you are currently experiencing a panic attack, focus first on helping yourself feel safe and grounded.
You can try:
Reminding yourself that panic symptoms can feel frightening without meaning that you are in immediate danger.
Taking slower, gentler breaths rather than forcing yourself to take very deep breaths.
Noticing your surroundings and naming what you can see, hear, and feel.
Sitting somewhere safe and allowing the wave of panic to pass rather than fighting every sensation.
Reminding yourself that you have experienced difficult sensations before and gotten through them.
If your symptoms are new, unusually severe, or different from what you have experienced before, it is important to seek appropriate medical attention rather than automatically assuming they are caused by panic.
The goal is not to force yourself to feel calm immediately. Sometimes trying desperately to make the panic stop can create even more fear. Instead, you can begin by reminding your body: I am here. I am safe right now. This feeling will pass.
What if I keep having panic attacks?
If panic attacks are becoming a regular part of your life, you deserve more than strategies for getting through each individual episode.
Recurring panic can change the way you live. You may start avoiding certain places, driving, traveling, social situations, exercise, being alone, or anything else that reminds you of a previous attack. Over time, your world can become smaller because you are trying to prevent another panic attack from happening.
Therapy can help you understand the patterns behind your panic and develop a treatment approach that fits your individual needs.
Research on panic disorder supports psychotherapy as an effective treatment, with cognitive behavioral therapy among the approaches with the strongest evidence. EMDR has also been studied for panic disorder, including a randomized controlled trial that found EMDR produced outcomes comparable to CBT on several measures, although the broader evidence base is more limited.
If trauma, distressing memories, or deeply rooted nervous-system responses are part of your experience, EMDR may offer another path toward healing.
Can EMDR help me feel safer in my body?
For many people, healing involves more than understanding why they feel anxious.
You may already know exactly what you are afraid of. You may have read about anxiety and panic, learned breathing exercises, or reminded yourself countless times that you are okay.
And yet, your body may still react.
That does not mean you are failing at managing your anxiety. It may mean there is more happening beneath the surface than can be addressed through logic alone.
EMDR takes a mind-and-body approach to healing. Through the reprocessing process, the goal is to help distressing experiences become less emotionally charged so that your present-day experiences do not continue to feel connected to past danger.
Over time, you may begin to notice that a sensation that once immediately triggered fear no longer has the same power over you.
You may still experience stress. You may still have difficult days. But you can begin to respond rather than automatically react.
You do not have to live afraid of the next panic attack
One of the hardest parts of recurring panic can be the fear that another attack is always waiting around the corner.
You may find yourself constantly monitoring your body, wondering whether that flutter in your chest or change in your breathing means another attack is beginning.
Healing can involve breaking that cycle.
EMDR is not a tool you need to use in the middle of every panic attack. Instead, it can be part of a larger therapeutic process designed to help you understand and process what is keeping your nervous system on high alert.
At Seasons of Strength, I provide individualized remote EMDR therapy for adults who are ready to understand what is underneath their symptoms and move toward meaningful healing. You do not have to have everything figured out before you begin.
There is hope, and you do not have to face this alone.
Your body has been trying to protect you. Together, we can help it learn that you are safe.
