Bojack panic attack hack a real tack! In the latest episode of Bojack Horseman, Hollyhock (Aparna Nancherla) has a panic attack at a party. A man named Peter talks her through it. "Look around the room and tell me what you see," he says. Hollyhock names things — first the things that cause her anxiety, then increasingly more mundane items in the room. "It's a trick my shrink taught me," Peter says. "It's supposed to help you ground yourself."
BoJack Horseman – Well, You Just Had Another Panic Attack
It’s a real trick, one of many methods that can help you get through an anxiety attack or panic attack. It’s sometimes structured as the 5-4-3-2-1 technique: name five things you can see, four you can touch, three you can hear, two you can smell, one you can taste.
(A word about terminology: Panic attacks are more involuntary and immediate than anxiety attacks, but the two have overlapping symptoms and treatments. Some doctors view anxiety only as a longer-term phenomenon and avoid the term "anxiety attack" altogether.)
Psychologist Barbara Markway suggests a similar method to Pete's in a 2014 article republished on Lifehacker: "Silently describe simple objects in your environment. For example, talk to yourself about the carpet. Sometimes it helps to make physical contact with an object." Staying in the present, she says, prevents your anxiety from escalating and distracts you from your own physical symptoms.
