Panic Attacks Help

In our world, anxiety and stress are symptoms of our over-active and over-stimulated lives. We work too hard and expect too much of ourselves and we experience tension. Sometimes that tension and anxiety can be so overwhelming that it stops up dead in our tracks and won’t let us do one more thing. If it happens once, we tend to forget about it and just move on, but the truth is that if it happens once it is likely to happen again.

So, what can you do about it? One of the simplest fixes is to breath. When we get tense and anxious our breath tends to become very irregular. We might start breathing faster than we normally do or we might be gulping in air frantically. As a result, we tend to get more anxious and sometimes even start to panic. When you feel yourself becoming tense or anxious, stop what you are doing and give yourself the time to breathe properly and you will quickly find that your mind and emotions will come under control when your breathing is controlled.

First, become aware of your breathing. What is it like? Is it shallow and fast or is it deep and a struggle?

Next, put on hand on your stomach and the other hand on your chest. Are the rising and falling? Let one breath out slowly and then inhale gradually. You should feel your abdomen rais beneath your hand now. When you breathe out your stomach should fall slowly under your hand. There should be very little movement in your upper chest.

Now, repeat this for five minutes. As you practice this exercise, you are forcing your breathing to be more regulated. As your breathing becomes calmer your mind will be forced to slow down and your emotions should become calmer as well.

When you feel stressed, are you like most and reach for your favorite sweet treat? Many combat stress with their favorite foods, they seek the comfort of good memories they get when their tongue tastes that one little bit they remember from their childhoods. Sometimes those may not be the best choices for combating stress though, but fear not, there are many foods that can help you get into that low-stress frame of mind.

• 1. Peaches – Peaches are a fantastic food to help combat stress and improve your health. When these little beauties grab a few, munch away, and savor the sweet sweet natural sedative contained within.
  2. Acacia Berries – A less familiar berry for most people, these sweet treats resemble blueberries and contain tons of mood lifters and natural sugars.
  3. Blueberries – If you can’t find something that resembles blueberries have the real thing! There are studies this berry fights Alzheimer’s and cancer, and it just tastes great.
  4. Almonds – A less sweet choice, almonds are a nut that are high on the heart healthy scale with a great dose of monounsaturated fat. They also have zinc and vitamin B12 to get you to love your life.
  5. Chocolate – That’s right, the sweet love, chocolate. But don’t go reaching for a brand-name chocolate bar. Find yourself some raw, dark chunk chocolate and enjoy your daily dose of magnesium.

These five foods are some of the best foods for combating your daily stress. They provide nutrition, supply mood enhancers and other minerals that can improve your outlook on life. So next time you want to tear your hair out, don’t reach for your head, reach for something from the list above to sweeten your life and mellow you out.

Currently the causes of panic attacks are not completely understood. It is known that it can happen to anyone, without a reason no matter what age they are.  This means that a happy healthy person has an equal chance of having attacks as someone who is depressed and unhealthy.  It can happen at anytime whether in public, or sitting in your home.

Methods of treatment may vary from patient to patient.  This depends on several condition; symptoms, lifestyle and the frequency of attacks.  Generally, treatment involves cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), psychotherapy and medication.  Other treatments may be meditation, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and herbal treatments.

Anti anxiety medication can provide quick relief from panic attack symptoms.  Benzodiazepines have immediate effects usually within 30 minutes to an hour – however they are addictive and some have serious withdrawal symptoms.  Anti depressant medications should be taken on a continuous basis before any effect will be noticed.  Only those who have been diagnosed with a panic disorder can access these types of medications.

Panic attacks, as well as agoraphobia, panic disorders and other phobias and conditions can be treated by psychotherapy.  Cognitive-behavioral therapy has been proven to reduce the symptoms of a panic attack or even completely alleviate the condition.  CBT focuses on changing the way a patient thinks – from negative to positive thoughts as well as the way the patient reacts or behaves when faced with a situation that can trigger an attack.

Exposure therapy is another therapy worth mentioning as this helps the patient overcome their fears by facing them in a safe and controlled manner.  Through this experience, a patient will learn that the fears they have are not in any way dangerous or harmful.

In most cases, medication on its own or therapy on its own is enough to treat the condition completely.  Other cases may use both medication and therapy in conjunction.

Meditation, relaxation techniques and breathing exercises have found to be an effective treatment for many patients as they strengthen the body’s relaxation response.

Herbs such as ginkgo biloba, St Johns Work, hyperforin, 5HTP, passion flower, chamomile and rhodiola are also effective as they possess natural qualities that help to combat stress.  In some cases, herbs alone are enough to cure the panic attacks.  These made into tea using the fresh leaves from the herbs or are available as an over the counter tablet, oil, tincture or powder.  Because herbs are natural they have no side effects.

A panic attack is a sudden discrete event of intense anxiety or worry that can lead to physical excitement, stomach problems, fear and discomfort. The episodes usually occur immediately with no obvious triggers. Hundreds of thousands of individuals suffer from panic attacks several times each year. Most of these individuals may not fully recover since they cannot truly control their emotions or do not realize the things that trigger their exaggerated responses. Symptoms of Depression, breathlessness, a rapid heartbeat, pains in the chest, feeling faint or sick, tingling or hot and cold flushes and a sense of impending doom are the indicators. Attacks can be as short as a few seconds but may last up to an hour

First, patients can begin helping themselves by admitting that they have a problem. To help you do this, you need to be aware that you are not alone. You have family and friends who can act as your support team. Learn about your condition and try to identify out some possible events or situations that seem to trigger the episode.

Close your eyes for about 5 to 10 seconds, tell yourself that there is nothing that you should fear and that every problem has a solution which will lead to benefits and a stronger you. Breathe deeply. Inhale and then exhale deeply 2 to 3 times and feel your body let go of all the stress. It is important also to consult with a doctor upon recognition of your problem, since a professional can teach you coping measures and prescribe medications if necessary.

Thinking of good things is an excellent way of coping with panic attacks. Try to divert your attention if you feel that the scary emotions are overwhelming you. Desensitize by exposing yourself more to situations or objects where you think your panic attack originates. Don’t attempt to fight your way out of a panic attack. Instead accept the feelings will come and go and allow the symptoms to play their tricks as they will. Practice imagining yourself floating over them. Eventually the panic will subside. Don’t bottle up your emotions. Find someone to confide in, such as a family member, friend or counselor. Stress Relief Games also provide relief from the attacks.

When you find yourself with a person suffering from panic attack, there are a few ways to help them. Find out the cause of the attack. Establish if there is a cause for the fear and either try to remove it or consider taking the person away from the source of distress to a quiet area. Speak to them in a reassuring but firm manner. Be prepared for the possibility of the person having an intense desire to escape. Stay calm and don’t pressure the person. This is not the time to force the person to come up with answers or to do things that will make their anxiety worse. Minimize the stress levels by being a calming influence and let them get into a relaxed state. Encourage them to try to control breathing. Don’t leave them alone. Stay with them until they have recovered from the attack.

The crucial thing to remember is that every person is different and will not respond in the same way to different medication and treatments. While for some patients learning and implementing a simple breathing technique will work wonders and solve the problem for a vast majority of agoraphobics and panic disorder sufferers will take weeks, months and sometimes even years of trying and experimenting with different medication, techniques or remedies before they find the “magic formula” and finally bring peace and happiness back into their lives.

There were two things that always prevented me from trying to relieve my stress. When I thought I felt stressed, I thought it was a ‘normal’ feeling for me to experience; and when I did feel especially stressed, almost to the level of panic attacks, I did not have any idea of how to relieve that stress.

Conventional methods for relieving stress like massage or drugs never really worked out for me for various reasons. I never had the money for the drugs, since most medications were not covered by my crappy insurance, and out of pocket, they were just excessively expensive. Massage was right out as well, since when I was suffering from my worst stress I never had any time to do anything about it. I always just shrugged and went on with my life, without ever realizing that the stress was really hurting my health.

I never even considered using alternative methods for controlling my stress, much less anything as hokey as “meditation”, that was always pop-culture trash that never was going to do anything to put a dent in the stress. So, I just suffered as it hurt my job and my personal life.

It took an intervention from my friends to discover how badly my stress was affecting me. They sat me down and told me that I was driving them away with my anger from stress, and that I needed to find a route to relieve that. So, one of them introduced me to Meditation for Beginners as a website that has techniques for 9 minute meditation. He practices the art himself, and found that the stress relief did really well for helping his work and his relationships. He even bought my subscription so I could try it out myself, so that way there was no risk for me to try the technique.

I have to admit, it worked. It took some effort to stick with the practice, and understand the teachings, but eventually I noticed a change in my day-to-day life. I was more relaxed through the day, slept better, work went easier, and I had friends and co-workers compliment me on the change in my attitude. It was like a whole new me emerged and faced the world. I can say that the techniques presented in this 9 minute meditation guide work, as now I am almost stress free, happier, healthier, and I know that I will be able to take on anything.

It may sound strange but a lot of people suffering with anxiety actually believe they have depression, why is this?

One of the side affects of anxiety is to become reclusive and emotional, while some people may actually suffer with a side affect of depression.

Because people generally have the tendency to shy away from social settings when they have an anxiety condition friends and family can automatically presume that depression is the cause. The difference between the two conditions is vast, below is a detailed outline of each condition.

Anxiety disorder

Anxiety is the feeling of fear and apprehension; this can be caused by a multitude of different reasons depending on the type of anxiety condition a person has.

A person suffering with anxiety will have physical symptoms like trembling and excessive sweating on the surface while underneath the blood is flowing to the major muscles inhibiting the digestive and immune systems and the heart is beating very fast.

The anxiety can make panic set in, which causes a person to feel the “flight or fight scenario”.

Anxiety is not hereditary and anyone can suffer with the condition, sometimes for no apparent reason.

Depression

Depression is the feeling of overwhelming sadness, guilt, worthlessness and isolation; these emotional feelings cause physical issues like fatigue, problems concentrating and difficulty sleeping.

It is believed that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance in the neurotransmitters found in the brain and central nervous system. These neurotransmitters (Serotonin and norepinephrine) help manage a persons mood so if there is an imbalance then a crash in a persons mood can happen.

When a person does have depression they will feel like the world is falling around them, it is common for thoughts of suicide to cross their mind and feelings of woe are never far from a sufferers mind.

Depression has been shown to be hereditary, if a family member has suffered with depression it is likely another family member will be diagnosed in their lifetime.

Summary

As you can see, anxiety and depression are two totally separate conditions. If you were to have anxiety then yes, you may shy away from the world outside, but this is not out of sadness or thoughts of suicide it is out of general fear of what is happening on the other side of your front door.

You may not be aware but about 3.5% of the population suffer with an anxiety condition in their lifetime with many not even realizing they have one, on top of this one in sixty people in the western world will have an isolated anxiety attack every year.

It is true that the medication used in the treatment of anxiety is the same as that used for cases of depression but this has no bearing on the conditions being close in any way, shape or form.

The next time you think a person you know has depression but you cannot understand why, look further in to the symptoms they have and you may be surprised to find that anxiety is the reason they are unsocial.