Anyone who’s suffered through one wants to learn how to respond to anxiety attacks. A panic attack causes intense physical and psychological distress.
If the episodes continue they can ruin a person’s quality of life, limiting what they’re willing to do and defining their choices for them.
In this article I’ll give some ideas about how to respond. If you’re like most people who have had one, you want to know: what to do to prevent a panic attack in the first place and how to respond if you get one anyway.
To begin, you really should see a doctor.
Some people might have a physical issue. You want to be certain that you don’t have a physical problem such as a heart or thyroid problem causing your symptoms.
This step establishes the diagnosis and reassures you that you are physically OK. Some types of cognitive therapy use this reassurance to help combat the panic feeling.
Next realize that you’re not alone.
Anxiety disorders afflict many people. Given the stressful times we live in it’s not very surprising. There are many on-line forums where people share stories and offer advice.
Like anything on-line be sure to use some common sense. I’ve seen some good advice on-line and I’ve seen some pretty bad advice.
Aside from that many people tell their stories on the forums. Hearing other people’s stories and how they’ve dealt with it can be inspirational as well as useful.
You should also look into a breathing technique to help with panic attacks known asdiaphragmatic breathing. This style of breathing is good for you in general. It also gets you used to feeling relaxed.
Diaphragmatic breathing generally isn’t enough by itself people find it to be one of the better tools used to bring a beginning panic episode under control.
you also may want to seek out instruction on the relaxation response. You can learn this from a therapist, on-line or even a book. No matter how you learn the techniques, practice the techniques regularly.
Cognitive restructuring works very well in preventing anxiety attacks. This is most easily applied as part of therapy with an appropriate professional but it is possible to learn without seeing a therapist.
Lastly, if your attacks are extremely troublesome you may benefit from short term use of medications to give you some relief while the more permanent solutions have a chance to work.
Most people come off the drugs after a few weeks to a year. A few need longer term treatment.
you can read about medications for anxiety and panic attacks that are used in addition to antidepressants.
Of course, if you’re taking medication you need to be under a doctor’s supervision.
This article has given you an idea of what to do about panic attacks. The main thing to know is that that you can be free of them before too long.
You can learn about an excellent way to free yourself of panic attacks completely at Panic Away Review.
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