How To Respond To Anxiety Attacks

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Thursday, February 19th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

Anyone who’s had one wants to know what to do about anxiety episodes. A panic attack causes intense physical and psychological distress.

If the episodes continue they can completely destroy a person’s enjoyment of life, limiting their day to day activities and defining their choices for them.

In this article I want to give some thoughts about how to respond. If you’ve ever had a panic attack, you want to know two things: how to prevent a panic attack to begin with and what to do if one happens anyway.

First, if you haven’t already you should see a physician.

Some physical issues can cause symptoms similar to severe anxiety. You want to be certain that you don’t have a physical problem such as a heart or thyroid problem responsible for your symptoms.

This step establishes the diagnosis and gives you the knowledge that you are physically OK. Some treatment options use this knowledge to help combat the panic feeling.

It also helps to realize you are not alone.

These days panic are commonplace. Given the stressful times we live in it’s not very surprising. People often use on-line forums to discuss their problems.

As always when you go on-line be sure to use some common sense. I’ve seen some excellent advice in on-line forums and I’ve seen some terrible advice.

It’s also helpful that many people describe what their attacks felt like. Hearing other people’s stories and how they’ve responded can be inspiring and instructive.

You should also look into a breathing technique to help with panic attacks known asdiaphragmatic breathing. This type of breathing is good for you in general. It also helps you maintain a relaxed outlook.

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 daily, even if only for a few minutes.

Cognitive restructuring works very well in treating anxiety attacks. You can use this most easily as part of therapy with an appropriate professional but you can also use it without seeing a therapist.

Finally, if your attacks are acutely debilitating you may need short term use of medications to give you some relief until the other treatments take effect.

People usually will be able to come off the medications after a few weeks to a year. Some need ongoing treatment.

There are other medications for anxiety and panic attacks that are used besides antidepressants.

Of course, anyone taking medications needs to be under a physician’s care.

I hope this has given you an idea of what to do about panic attacks. The main thing to realize is that you will be able to find relief.

You can learn about an extremely effective way to rid yourself of panic attacks once and for all at Panic Away Review.

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