grounding techniques
Panic attack countermeasures
Grounding techniques are mental exercises used to manage anxiety, panic, or dissociation by redirecting attention to the present moment and physical surroundings.
Common methods include focusing on sensory details—what you can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste—or performing simple physical actions like pressing your feet into the floor.
My therapist taught me grounding techniques for when I feel a panic attack coming on.
The term comes from the idea of establishing a stable connection to reality, much like an electrical ground provides stability to a circuit.
- tasteFlavor perception ability
- deep breathingDeliberate slow inhalation practice
- box breathingTimed four-phase respiration
- touchPerceiving through physical contact
- mindfulnessAwareness of the present
counting · breathing techniques · walking · muscle relaxation · earthing · sight · aromatherapy · cold water · journaling · emotional regulation · texture · visualization · mental arithmetic · stretching · smell · physical exercise · sound · barefoot
- mindfulnessmindfulness, meditation, meditate, breathe, breath
- recoveryrecovery, sobriety, rehab, recover, recovery room
- EQ skillsemotional intelligence, EQ, self-regulation, emotional awareness, emotion recognition
- service dogsguide dog, seeing eye dog, guide dog trainer, guide dog training, golden retriever
- therapy techniquesCBT, play therapy, art therapy, exposure therapy, group therapy
- trauma therapyEMDR, trauma processing, trauma therapy, PTSD treatment, CPT
grounding techniquesdissociation
Mental separation from surroundings
derealization · depersonalization · spacing out · escapism · zoning out
grounding techniquesmedication
Therapeutic substance for illness
pharmacotherapy · psychotropic drugs · sedatives · anxiolytics · clinical intervention
grounding techniquesescapism
Habitual mental retreat
fantasy · rumination · catastrophizing · avoidance · denial