Posts Tagged ‘Attacks’

Everything You Need to Know About Panic and Anxiety Attacks

Panic and anxiety attacks are described as sudden experiences of fear or anxiety that can be quite overwhelming. When one experiences a panic and anxiety attack, he or she immediately feels as if their heart is pounding a mile a minute and they suddenly feel that they cannot breathe. Often, the sufferer even feels that he or she may be going crazy or even dying. If panic and anxiety attacks are not treated properly, it can lead to other serious problems. Fortunately, there are proven treatments for these attacks that will help those who are suffering from them.

Panic and anxiety attacks can strike anywhere, anytime. It can happen when you are at home, in your car, in the mall, or just walking down the street. There are many signs and symptoms to these attacks, which usually reach the peak of their effect in only ten minutes. These attacks usually last for as long as an hour, but the average time is 30 minutes. Full blown panic attacks have the following signs or symptoms:

Shortness of breath Chest pains Shaking Feeling of being choked Sweating Nausea Feeling tingling sensations in various parts of the body Numbness Feeling of dying or going crazy

There are no specific or exact causes for panic or anxiety attacks, but some studies have shown that these attacks usually are hereditary. Other causes for panic and anxiety attacks include these occurrences happening during major changes in one’s life such as graduating from school, getting a new job, getting married, or starting a family. Also, severe stressful situations such as getting a divorce, getting fired, or losing a loved one can also lead to panic attacks. There are also medical conditions and other physical factors that can cause or trigger these panic and anxiety attacks. These include hypoglycemia, hyperthyroidism, withdrawal from medications, and overuse of stimulants such as caffeine and amphetamines.

Fortunately, panic and anxiety attacks are treatable. The two top treatments are medication and cognitive behavioral therapy. Sometimes, a combination of these two treatments is needed.

The use of medication to treat panic attacks is very important to help control or reduce the symptoms that come along with the attacks. Medication is most effective if it is partnered with other treatments and exercises such as therapy or changes in one’s lifestyle. The most common medications used to treat panic attacks include antidepressants and benzodiazepines. Antidepressants usually take more than a week before you see its effects, which is why they have to be taken recurrently. Benzodiazepines are medications that act within 30 minutes to an hour of taking them. They are to be ingested during a panic attack to help relieve symptoms. It is very important to take high precaution, however, as these drugs can be very addictive and can lead to serious cases.

During cognitive behavioral therapy, the thinking patterns and behavioral techniques of the patient are studied to help them change and improve their outlook on life and especially on their fears. It helps the patient to understand and know what to do in case another panic attack occurs.

Amazing Panic and Anxiety Attacks Treatment For Panic Anxiety Disorder

In the beginning, panic anxiety disorder takes on a different form than it does in later stages when the attacks symptoms are easily visible to others. At first, panic symptoms seem unusual or unfamiliar, with feelings of confusion and fear. A feeling of paranoia sets in and no one is sure what triggers it. Once the small attacks panic sufferers notice are over, things seem to get back to normal again. They begin with short episodes of anxiety or fear about something. Over time, the attacks panic triggers usually get stronger or more frequent in nature.

Panic attacks come in all shapes and sizes. Some come on suddenly while others are more gradual. Many of them are spread out over several days or even months, while others happen almost daily. No one is sure what triggers the attacks panic symptoms point to. All that is known is that they vary by individual. What is also known is that the individual has a great deal of control over the panic and anxiety attacks, and can actually alter the actual panic anxiety disorder through unique anxiety treatments.

Over the years, more is known about how to treat panic anxiety disorder. However, not all treatments are safe. In fact, some have proven to be harmful, and even fatal. Many anti anxiety medications such as those to treat depression have side effects. If used over long periods of time, they can worsen the depression or even cause thoughts of suicide. Other medications to treat panic and anxiety attacks can cause sweating, high blood pressure, constipation, or other discomforts. Fatigue is a common side effect and can render a person useless.

Finally, a story has emerged that is worth listening to among the thousands of sufferers who write about panic anxiety disorder symptoms and some kind of drug related panic attack treatment every day. An agonizing story, Julie tells of her two year ordeal and how she finally got the anxiety help she needed. It does not take long to notice that the dozens of drugs she tried would work for a while, but then would stop working. So as you read about her amazing anxiety and panic attacks treatment that finally worked, you begin to see what she has been through. Her story is not unlike many others, who have just not been able to put it into words. Anxiety and depression are difficult to treat, but out of all the anxiety treatments Julie had tried, she came out of it using a method that did not require any medications or drugs. Now she is able to share her story with others who suffer from anxiety attacks like she did.

Panic and Anxiety Attacks – The Unknown Facts

Panic and anxiety attacks are described as emotional conditions that can be upsetting and disturbing experience. Common symptoms include irrational and intensive distress that is usually accompanied with anxiety and fear. Moreover, shaking or trembling and shortness of breath can be experiences, which can last for about half an hour but it differs from one individual to another.

One cause of panic and anxiety attacks is low blood sugar. The intensity of the attacks differ and the more severe attacks can cause the patient a lot of anxiety, which causes longer effects. Panic attack is very irrational but some researches show that it low blood sugar can contribute to such attack. Moreover, some studies established that panic and anxiety attacks are closely related to puberty. Other causes of panic attack may also include stress, traumatic incidents, drug or alcohol use and hormonal or chemical imbalance.

It is necessary to understand the causes of panic attacks in order to take certain medications that can manage the condition. There are different types of relaxation methods, antidepressants and medication that can help treat the condition. Though there is no single remedy that is effective in all cases of panic attack but lowering the levels of stress can certainly help in reducing the risk of suffering the condition.

The causes of panic attacks vary due to the fact that attacks can be signs of other illnesses. However, there are common symptoms of panic and anxiety attacks such as the following:

o Depression

o Antisocial behavior

o Severe nervousness

o Lack of energy

o Unusual anxiety or anger

Though these symptoms can be signs of other diseases, it is necessary to be aware of these facts and encourage the individual to seek doctor’s advice as soon as possible. If stress and anxiety runs in the family it is recommended to be familiar with the common symptoms in order to know the right treatments.

It is better and easier to prevent panic attacks than treating it and there are a lot of ways to prevent suffering from the condition. For instance, regular exercise can help lower the levels of stress. Moreover, eating healthy and nutritious foods can give the body essential nutrients in order to function properly.

Medication or therapy can be a great challenge in overcoming panic and anxiety attacks. Most doctors advise using natural methods, therapy or medication as early as possible in treating panic attack.

If natural methods are not effective, you have other options such as cognitive behavioral therapy and meditation. Many experts say that these solutions can effectively stop panic attacks and an individual can choose freely which ones to use. Though both treatments can be effective, most doctors recommend having a combination of both meditation and cognitive therapy to make sure that the process of treating the condition is permanent.

Most of the time, patience is necessary. It is implausible that a certain treatment will have immediate effects. It usually takes around one week or more for the treatment to take effect. Aside from meditation and cognitive therapy, counseling can help cure panic and anxiety attacks.

For some individuals, medication for panic attacks is the best solution, which includes prescription drugs. These drugs usually take one week or more to work so make sure not to change the medication after a few days if nothing is happening.

Statistics show that roughly one in four people suffer from panic and anxiety attack or phobias. Stress and other worries in life can trigger this condition so it is recommended to lower stress levels. Panic and anxiety attacks can develop in individuals of any gender or age but in general, this condition develops in the early adulthood or late teens.

Signs of Panic and Anxiety Attacks

To start overcoming anxiety and panic attacks, you must first understand the main signs of experiencing the actual anxiety attack. In order for anyone to fully know what a anxiety attack feels like, they must have experienced one before.

Often times, panic and anxiety attacks can last for a couple of minutes. For others, it can last for about thirty seconds and then these feelings soon subside and diminish. Panic and anxiety attacks are like a quick spike of intense emotion that later subsides and disappears.

Panic and anxiety attacks can have both physical and emotional symptoms. Many people who experience these symptoms sometimes cannot accurately distinguish them and they think something is wrong with them.

Physical symptoms of anxiety and panic include accelerated heart beating, fast short breathing high in the chest, feelings of heaviness, dizziness and uncomfortable feelings in the stomach and throat area. Some people also experience hot flashes, chills, shaking, leg weakness, numbness and excessive sweating.

Emotional symptoms include fear and anxiety. Many people feel out of control and relate to this experience as an ‘out of control experience’. They feel like fleeing from the situation as fast as possible to escape the feelings going on inside. They do not want to particularly flee the situation but they want to escape the inner feelings and bodily sensations.

These physical and emotional symptoms can rob people of mental clarity, sharpness as well as logic. When people experience a panic or anxiety attack it seems that the logic is following in accordance with the physical and emotional symptoms.

Many people think of a panic attack as though something out of their control is doing something to them. This type of thinking can make the situation even worse. Once someone does not feel in control, they render themselves powerless and it presupposes that the solution lies outside of them.

It is more the fact that the person experiencing the panic anxiety has more involvement with the feelings going on inside their body. Instead of thinking I’m having a panic attack, think of it as I’m doing a panic attack.

Often times, many people are reacting to their perception of the situation and the concern about having a panic or anxiety attack and they may not be reacting to the situation itself. If they were reacting to the situation then everyone would be panicking.

To overcome panic and anxiety you will first have to realize that you are going to have to change your perception of the situation as well as your perception of having a panic attack. It is very common that people who have panic attacks are more concerned with feeling panic and anxiety than being in the situation. It seems that they really want to avoid the feeling of panicking.

Instead of fearing the panic attack, many people find that becoming involved with the internal experience, which is done by adding to it, helps tremendously. This puts them back in control instead of some mysterious force controlling them.

How to Stop Panic and Anxiety Attacks Naturally

Before going into how to stop panic and anxiety attacks naturally, it makes sense to get to know what causes you to have terrifying panic attacks. Through this knowledge, you’ll be better able to appreciate just how natural remedies are able to stop these attacks.

In the main, anyone who suffers panic / anxiety attacks will usually have higher than normal (for them) levels of anxiety. In this situation all it takes is for the person to suffer a stressful event that adds to the already high anxiety so that it throws their total stress / anxiety levels ‘over the top.’

This increase fools your body into thinking it’s in mortal danger, so it triggers its ‘fight or flight’ response which means making very rapid changes in things like blood pressure, blood flow, chemical changes, etc. It does this to increase your speed, strength, vision, hearing, etc., to give you the best chance of survival.

But as you aren’t aware of any danger and these changes happen so fast, you start to experience a number of symptoms which you find puzzling and hence so terrifying, because you think you are having a heart attack or something similarly scary.

Typical panic / anxiety attack symptoms are; hyperventilation, racing / irregular heartbeat, tingling feeling in your extremities, hot / cold flashes, nausea, dizziness, feeling of being detached from reality, and, a feeling of impending doom.

Mainstream treatment is usually through drugs such as antidepressants, tranquilizers and sometimes beta-blockers. But they can have some terrible side effects, one of the worst being dependency issues, if not handled properly. So more and more people are looking for natural ways to stop panic and anxiety attacks.

How to Stop Panic and Anxiety Attacks Naturally

(1) As you’ve now seen previously, an attack is purely a natural reaction arising from a ‘mix-up’ between reality and what your body’s defense mechanism has wrongly perceived. So it’s a medical fact that a panic attack can’t harm you.

Let this fact be your starting point when you first sense the signs at the start of an attack. Keep in mind throughout, that this attack cannot harm you and will soon pass.

(2) Do not look inwards at your symptoms and analyze their severity, etc. This is a vicious cycle that will make the fear worse. Concentrate externally on physical things around you. Study them to keep your mind off your symptoms.

(3) If you are hyperventilating — short, shallow, rapid breathing — breathe into a paper or plastic bag to re-balance your body’s oxygen / carbon dioxide ratio.

And, as stated previously, keep in mind that you aren’t in any danger and the symptoms will pass. The better you do this the sooner it will pass.

These 3 steps are fundamental steps to help stop panic and anxiety attacks once they have started. But of course it’s much better to prevent them being triggered in the first place! And one of the biggest things to overcome is your fear (unconscious or conscious) of having another attack. This can actually trigger one!

This is a vicious cycle of anxiety that needs to be broken in order to prevent panic attacks and heal your general anxiety. Luckily, there are natural techniques that can help you do this. (See below).

How to Stop Panic and Anxiety Attacks

Panic and anxiety attacks are not really rare as you think. These kinds of attacks actually happen to a significant number of people. Sometimes, we cannot just determine the symptoms of these attacks to any other health conditions. Thus, there are cases that patients or individuals who experience anxiety attacks are not treated the right way.

There has been a common misconception that people who often experience panic attacks have no chance of being treated. However, modern science and technology disproves this misconception.

Symptoms

Some mistakenly think that anxiety and panic attacks are forms of heart attacks since the feelings of the patients are somewhat similar. But, there are some symptoms that can help you identify when the attacks are not related with heart attack:

-Dizziness

-Hot flushes

-Too much worrying

-Racing heart

These symptoms are just related with panic attacks and not some heart problems.

Treating Panic Attacks

The most effective way of preventing panic attacks is to avoid thinking about possible future panic attacks. If a person would learn how not to think about his/her future panic attacks, his/her brain can relax. If you are fortunate enough, this can help you not to experience panic attacks again. With this, medications and some breathing exercises are no longer needed. Relaxation is often the answer against forms of stress, thus there is less occurrence of panic and anxiety.

Some may think that panic or anxiety attacks are not curable. But everything is always up to the person involved. If he/she thinks that his/her case is hopeless, then the outcome is most likely how he/she thinks about it. If you will remain positive about the situation, your recovery is just a mile away.

It is true that preventing panic and anxiety attacks is sometimes just a state of an individual’s mind.

Want to Learn How to Stop Anxiety Attacks? Natural Remedies For Panic and Anxiety Attacks

In today’s world, we can see that there’s an increase in the number of people suffering from panic and anxiety attacks. There’s many reasons why people undergo anxiety and panic attacks. But there are an even larger number of ways in which you can learn how to stop anxiety attacks. So why don’t you start off right away? The best way to deal with panic attacks and anxiety is through various forms of natural treatments.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (C.B.T.)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is mainly used in order to bring about a change in the thinking process and behavior pattern of the person who is suffering from the anxiety or panic attacks. This helps in easing the emotional turmoil as well as the physical symptoms of the attack. This treatment teaches the person how to cope up with different kinds of situations and teaches them various skills to reduce stress, relax and engage yourself in calming thoughts. This will help in reducing the symptoms of anxiety attacks and in turn teach you how to stop anxiety attacks. CBT is a well known form of treatment that has had some of the best results the medical industry has seen in relation to helping people overcome their panic and anxiety.

Natural Herbal Remedies

Herbal products are natural medicinal supplements that have less of a harmful effect on your health in relation to traditional medication. Kava kava is one such supplement that helps to keep anxiety symptoms under control. Another herb that helps to stop anxiety attacks is Valerian root. It acts as an anti-sedative as well as an anti-anxiety agent! There are also many other herbs that will help you stop and control anxiety.

Regular Meditation

Meditation helps in keeping the entire mind and body very calm and at ease. Regular meditation helps in building up control and discipline over our mind. It helps in removing any excess anger, stress, worries and fear! One of the most common and important features of meditation is yoga. If you can do at least half an hour of yoga or any other form of meditation everyday, it can actually help you learn how to stop anxiety attacks.

Modify your Dietary Habits

Two of the most important things that should be strictly avoided are caffeine and sugar. Forming a healthy diet is very important. Apart from everything else that you eat, remember to include a lot of green vegetables. This is automatically going to help in reducing the effects of anxiety attacks. It can be a sure-fire way to solve a number of other types of emotional and health oriented problems as well! A healthy body supports a healthy mind, and vice versa.

Exercise is a must

When you exercise your body releases a number of neuro-transmitters that can effectively keep your anxiety under control. You can start with a little less intensive exercise and then gradually start building up your exercise routine. This can and will help stop anxiety attacks.

I have talked about a number of ways to help you learn how to stop anxiety attacks so hopefully some of these suggestions will be helpful for you. You can always keep experimenting with different methods to stop anxiety attacks but it’s recommended to use what has been proven to work. Keep in mind to avoid subscription medication and undergo natural remedies to help reduce your anxiety.

Remember that keeping yourself calm under all circumstances, not worrying about things unnecessarily is important. And I understand that it may seem impossible at first, but you are more than capable of doing so. I personally found a great remedy, which is a CBT method that helped me to successfully overcome my anxiety of 5 years. I would highly recommend that you give it your serious attention if you are serious about recovering from your panic and anxiety attacks.

Find Out the Truth About Panic and Anxiety Attacks – What Has it to Do With Our Brain?

Panic and Anxiety attacks. Almost all of us at some point have had a panic attack, and this can be a very terrifying experience. A lot of the time it is mistaken for other medical conditions, so I will like to point out a few symptoms, and a brief description on how and why an attack manifests itself. But firstly, I do want to point out this condition is curable.

A few symptoms of a panic and anxiety attack.

Heavy sweats. Feeling dizzy. Rapid heart beat. Loss of hearing. Dry mouth,problems speaking. Tight chest. Hard to breath. Tingling in your arms.

And the list goes on.

The symptoms are very similar to a heart attack. Panic and anxiety attack can be very traumatic, more then likely you will find you self heading for the nearest hospital, expecting the worst outcome.

The problem starts right here, after an episode has occurred we embed the event in our brain, it get to the point that we start to think constantly about the initial time and place the panic and anxiety attack manifested, just the slight though of going near there triggers an attack, we actually talk ourselves into this way before an onset has ever began to happen. Our Brain its a pretty powerful little device.

Unfortunately the slightest though of a panic and anxiety attack sends shivers down the spine, it’s way too much for us to deal with most of the time, so usually we turn to medication. This is where we start a very dangerous cycle. What happens from here is a road you certainly do not want to be traveling down. I have been there and i never want to return.

There is a way to treat panic and anxiety attack, the treatment is 100% natural, completely safe and it works. The technique used shows you how to control your thought patterns, so you can switch off an attack all most instantly.

This is how it all begins.

Anxiety happens because our brain tell us there is a fearful situation and you better prepare your self for it, how this works is this, the 2 sections I will refer to are the front and the middle sections of the brain. The middle section is the fear mechanism, the front section is the rationalization part, when we fear something the brain wave get moved from the front to the middle to prepare us for danger. So in order for us to calm down we would have to move them back to the front of the brain, very easy, but for the average person this is impossible to do, unless you know the technique.

Is There A Difference Between Panic And Anxiety Attacks?

There exists much confusion, even among experts, concerning the words panic and anxiety when it comes to what is commonly referred to as a “panic attack”. Is that the same thing as an “anxiety attack”? Are they the same thing? Or is there a difference between panic and anxiety attacks?

A “panic attack” is the inappropriate emergence of the human “fight or flight” response at an inopportune time. Physically, panic attacks are characterized by sweatiness, racing pulse, dizziness, hot flashes, and discoloration of the skin. And these are only the physical attributes. The most oppressive aspect of a panic attack is resident within one’s thoughts.

In the midst of one of these attacks, those who suffer from them claim to experience a sense of sheer terror beyond anything which they’ve previously felt. During an episode, many insist they are going to die even though all the objective facts point to them being completely fine and safe. These feelings aptly prompt the word usage of both “panic” and “anxiety”. The pathology as described above is correctly described as either a panic attack, or an anxiety attack.

However, the word “anxiety” is also present within another disorder which is a wholly different animal from a panic attack. Societal Anxiety Disorder, which goes by the apt acronym of SAD, is a disorder where sufferers are afraid to engage in any social situation. This can be as simple as shaking a stranger’s hand all the way up to fear of public speaking.

Also, “anxiety” is often used to describe a more attenuated version of panic. Whereas panic can be said to be a full boil, anxiety can be said to be a slow simmer. A panic attack most often fully freezes those it afflicts. One is not functional in the midst of a full fledged panic attack.

However, a sense of “anxiety” can be resident while still allowing one to go about the activities of everyday life. Granted, this underlying persistent anxious feeling is far from a positive one. However, it is not debilitating to the degree of a panic attack and sufferers from general anxiety are often able to hide it from those around them.

This is not to say general anxiety is harmless. It has been long established that anxiety and stress can contribute to a diverse palate of undesirable maladies. It can be just as important to treat chronic general anxiety as it is to address outright panic attacks. Many treatments are actually applicable to both.

So, remember that SAD is not a panic attack. Anxiety is a more tame version of panic. When it comes to an “attack”, both words are general interchangeable before it. It may seem like extreme parsing of words, but it is helpful to understand the difference between panic and anxiety attacks.

Foods That Can Trigger Your Panic and Anxiety Attacks

Let me start by asking you what foods you are sensitive to, if there are any? The thing is this that the foods that you are sensitive to, the foods that you consume, eating that food may increase your chances of you having a panic attack. Food does not cause panic or anxiety attacks, but there are foods that can cause your anxiety levels to be high, and therefore increase the likelihood of a panic attack. What are these foods exactly?

The three food baddies that I am going to look at are caffeine, sugar and alcohol. Let us look into each one and see how the body reacts to it once it gets into your body.

Sugar

The kind of sugar I am talking about here is the type that one gets from eating chocolate, maybe a cake or a doughnut. I have nothing against any of these foods but the truth is they can give you mood swings. Your body moves from having a low sugar level to a high sugar level in a very short space of time, and you are brought to a low sugar level again. The high level of sugar does not last in the body because as soon as it enters, the body will release some insulin to try and reduce the amount of sugar in your body. As your sugar levels rise and drop, so you will experience some agitation and get anxious.

If you suffer from panic and anxiety attacks, it would be better for you to get on a low sugar nutrition diet, with vegetables and proteins. Stick to natural sugars derived from fruit.

Caffeine

Caffeine for a lot of people is a must have to kickstart their day, they just have to have that first cup of coffee. However, caffeine actually affects the way you are going to be able to handle stress and all of the panicky feelings that may creep up on you during the day. Caffeine makes the body thinks that there is an emergency that is coming and so the body produces adrenaline. And as we all know, adrenaline makes your heart rate go up and when your heart rate is racing, it increases your state of anxiousness.

Alcohol

Alcohol is a stimulant. Whatever your state of mind is, with alcohol involved, it will be bigger than it actually is. Some people who suffer from anxiety may take alcohol because it seems to have a calming effect on them, for that short period of time. However, alcohol actually increases the lactic acid in your body, which actually causes your blood sugar levels to exaggerate. More so, alcohol prevents you from seeing things in a calm fashion, and it makes you make poor decisions.