When you are having a panic attack, dealing with your symptoms and handling the condition can be extremely difficult. For most people, the first panic attack you experience will be completely beyond your control. This is because until you know what is happening and what your body is experiencing, you have no way of knowing how to deal with it.
Once you realize that you are having panic attacks, you have a great deal more control. While specific techniques and methods will be mentioned later on in this book, it is important to understand that once you know what a panic attack is, you have a much greater ability to make it stop or to control it. Whenever you recognize the symptoms of a panic attack beginning, stop and realize what is happening to your body. Realize that there is no danger and that your adrenal system is going into overdrive.
Once you are aware of what is happening, you can better control it. You know that your adrenal system is overreacting, so take the time to start controlling your breathing. Use relaxation techniques and deep breathing and make a conscious effort to replace negative thoughts and fears with positive or neutral thoughts. Keep in mind that your adrenal system takes three minutes to kick in, remember that you are safe and that nothing bad is going to happen, and work on relaxing before your adrenal glands start sending out hormones.
Stopping the Fear Cycle
Believe it or not, for people with panic disorder, one of the biggest causes of panic attacks can actually be the fear that you are going to experience a panic attack. This can be a frightening and frustrating cycle, and it is one that can cause great disruption and interruption in your social, occupational, and romantic interactions.
While panic attacks are not dangerous, they are certainly frightening, and this is what leads many people to become so fearful of the next attack. Many patients are afraid that they will experience an attack in a public place, resulting in embarrassment or in the inability to receive help if it is needed. This fear can trap people inside their homes, and it can trap them in a life that is largely spent in fear of the next panic attack.
Stopping the cycle of fear is essential to moving beyond panic disorder. A vast majority of people who receive treatment for this disorder are able to be cured, but treatment is an essential element. Studies show that treatment from a mental health professional using cognitive behavior therapy, interoceptive therapy, or a combination of the two, either in person or over the Internet, can help stop panic attacks for a large number of patients.
Through these therapies, you learn to change anxiety causing thoughts and behaviors. Interoceptive therapy also helps you learn to stop associating the symptoms of a panic attack with fear and anxiety. With these therapies put into proper practice, you can train your body to stop becoming anxious and fearful and train your brain to stop sending panic signals to your adrenal system. This allows you to stop fearing the next panic attack, which also means that you are far less likely to experience recurrences.
Cures, Remedies, and Magical Answers
One question that many patients ask is whether there is a cure or remedy for panic attacks or panic disorder. We live in a society where we are led to believe that there is a medication, a pill, or a magical “instant solution” for every problem. We have medicines that can stop an infection or that can cure certain diseases, and we have been taught that pills are the answer to all of life’s problems. Of course, there is a problem with that theory. It simply isn’t true.
Panic attacks are an issue that stems largely from the way that we think and behave, which means that in order to make them stop, we need to change the way we think and behave. The truth is that there is no pill that can change the way we instinctively think and react when confronted with certain stimuli. Instead it takes hard work, effort, and changes on your part. Diet and lifestyle can certainly play a role, but medication is not the answer.
While there is no magical cure or remedy for panic attacks, there is treatment that is almost always effective. Therapies, relaxation techniques, and other methods can be incredibly effective when put into place, and they can offer more benefit than any medication could provide without the risk of dependency or side effects. While medications work to mask or subdue a problem, therapy can help you treat and resolve it. The simple fact is that the only way to overcome panic attacks and panic disorder is to find out what is causing them, treat the cause, and treat the thoughts and behaviors that accompany them. It may not be done overnight, but it is the only truly successful way to make them stop.
If your panic attacks are part of a separate anxiety disorder or mental health issue, you will find that you need to treat the underlying illness in order to fully treat the panic attacks. Your doctor or mental health professional can help you find the cause of your panic attacks. When you have done this, you will have a better idea of what needs to be done to help permanently stop or reduce them.
Summary
Panic attacks can be frightening and they can leave you with many questions. Knowing as much as possible about these attacks can be your best defense against them. Take the time to answer all of your questions fully and you will better understand what these attacks are and how to discuss and deal with them.