It is probably not a desirable event but on occasion, most if not all of us will experience sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behavior.

Panic probably has a purpose although I am not sure how valuable it is given the often associated illogical or irrational behavior which is driven by the shock/stress associated with the fearful event.

Keep Calm, Carry On

During the second world war, the British Government prepared a campaign to use in the event of an invasion by Germany.  The tag line was “keep calm and carry on”.

The premise was, panic is not a useful behavior in a crisis.   England was not invaded and the campaign was never run although leftover posters were found a decade ago and the motto has become a popular phrase for modern posters, coffee mugs, etc.

Why Panic

Panic is driven by strong emotions.  Most typically is fear of undesirable consequences.  The greater the impact of the bad things we visualize potentially the greater the magnitude of our panic.

For me avoiding panic starts with a logical consideration of why it occurred in the first place.   Panic is an innate natural behavior for prioritization.

Prioritization is critical to determining when to react, how quickly and how forcefully.  In this context, panic makes sense in that it could help us prioritize the need for immediate action.

Avoiding Panic

The downside arises from emotional underpinning.   Our prioritization might not be logical and the reaction might not be the most appropriate.

That is urgency drives us to “GO” even when a little forethought might be more appropriate to arrive at the best resolution.

Simple to avoid, stop, ask why you are panicking, consider options, pick the best one and move on.