Psychiatrists and mental wellness therapists are of the opinion that the COVID19 pandemic is the reason for the sudden rise in the number of panic attack cases experienced by working professionals.

A sudden episode of intense fear or anxiety and physical symptoms, based on a perceived threat rather than imminent danger is the basic definition of panic attack. Many professionals are going through extreme pressures of workload or worries about losing their job. As per the definition and researchers, severe stress, such as the death of a loved one, divorce, or job loss can be some of the triggers for panic attacks. 

Many professionals have complained about panic disorder, anxiety, increased stress levels and insomnia during the pandemic. Some pointed out headaches and gastric upset along with extreme body pain and feelings of fatigue and exhaustion. After looking deeper into the problem, the triggers for these were extreme stress and anxiety.

"I am from Mumbai but currently caught up in Bangalore due to work and lockdown. I stay away from my family. I try to stay in touch with them often but recently I feel very disturbed. I've also experienced uneasy and uncomfortable times when I thought I was having a heart attack. Later I realised, this happened whenever I thought about Arjun, my colleague. He had contracted the virus when we were working in office. Though I have been tested negative, the fear of contracting the disease was triggering panic attacks that I felt like I was about to die in a few minutes, it was so intense," said Armaan, a man who worked in a multinational company in Bangalore away from home. 

The fear of being infected by coronavirus that can lead to death; the anxiety over the financial uncertainty and possibility of job loss while living alone; being burdened with a lot of responsibilities both at home and work front are the main triggers of panic attacks among the professionals. 

Many of them are extroverts and outgoing people who are feeling cooped up inside their houses without any productive thing to do. They have been forced to live a life very unlike their own and that makes them over think about the situation.

This over thinking can sometimes cloud a person’s rational mind and lead her to indulge in excessive behaviours such as obsessive hand washing, bathing, or sanitizing—behaviours which do not let the mind rest easy even for a few minutes.

 How can you manage these panic attacks with self-treatment?

1) Watch what you eat: Indulge in a healthy food items rather than going for temporary reliefs like caffeine, nicotine, alcohol and recreational drugs. Temporarily these can make you feel better, but in the long run they increase the feeling of restlessness and agitation.

2) Get a good night's sleep: Getting regular sleep is something that helps keep stress levels in control. Along with a healthy diet try and do following things to get a undisturbed sleep;
Exercise 
Practise relaxation techniques -include routines of deep breathing and yoga  

3) Get an appointment to see a doctor: If you are experiencing the symptoms for the first time you might get scared; try and talk it out with your closed ones. But if you think that the symptoms of panic attack are becoming worse or are interfering with your conduct of daily routine, making you struggle with your work from home routine or creating conflicts in the relationships or obstructing you from completing your daily tasks consulting an expert is advised.

4) Stay away from NEWS: And social media. Excessive consumption of NEWS and random conversations on social media can leave you feeling restless, anxious and upset.