Treating Panic Attack
HELP! - HOW TO DETECT A PANIC ATTACK AND HOW TO TREAT A PANIC ATTACK
Each year, an estimated 2.7 percent of all individuals in the United States suffer from panic disorder.
While that number may seem insignificant, it represents millions of people who suffer from anxiety and full-blown panic episodes.
If you've ever experienced a panic attack, you understand how frightening they can be. Along with the physical symptoms associated with an attack, you may experience a loss of control over your body and mind. This can leave you feeling helpless and fearful that another attack is imminent.
Fortunately, there are methods for treating panic attacks and preventing them from taking over your life.
Continue reading to learn the signs and symptoms of a panic attack, as well as the most effective panic attack treatment method.
Recognize a Panic Attack
Panic attacks take on a variety of forms, and each individual is likely to have a unique experience.
Occasionally, a panic episode is induced by a change in the surroundings. For example, loud music or a swelling throng in a musical hall may trigger a panic attack in one person.
Other attacks are triggered by less obvious reasons. Numerous people suffer panic attacks as a result of stress related to forthcoming deadlines or assignments.
Yet another group of persons is predisposed to panic attacks that appear to begin without a trigger or whose trigger is unknown to both the person suffering the attack and those around them.
Panic Attacks: Signs and Symptoms
Just as the cause of a panic attack varies from person to person, the signals of an attack and the symptoms experienced by the individual may also vary.
Panic attacks can manifest with very mild physical signs in some circumstances. These symptoms may include sweating, nausea, slight dizziness or lightheadedness, chills, or sensations of heat.
Occasionally, these physical symptoms may worsen. Extreme dizziness can result in a person passing out. Nassau might develop into a vomiting episode. Several more physical symptoms that may occur during a panic attack include the following:
Tremors and shakings that are really violent
Breathlessness or a sense of suffocation
Pain in the chest
Numbness or tingling, particularly in the extremities
Palpitations of the heart
If a person suffers at least four of these of the other symptoms listed above, they are said to be experiencing a full-blown panic attack. However, if there are fewer than four symptoms, the incident is still classified as a panic attack, but is referred to as a "limited-symptom panic attack."
Panic Attack vs. Anxiety
At times, the symptoms of anxiety and those of a panic attack can be confused.
Physical symptoms such as a racing heartbeat or the sensation of having knots in your stomach are frequently associated with anxiety attacks. Additionally, an individual may experience perspiration, lightheadedness, dizziness, and maybe chest pain or other symptoms consistent with panic attacks.
However, what distinguishes anxiety from a panic attack is that the symptoms may last for hours, if not days. They may fluctuate in intensity, but never truly vanish.
When a person has a panic attack, the symptoms often begin and peak within about ten minutes or less. They normally subside after reaching that peak intensity.
Panic Attack Detection
One of the most difficult aspects of diagnosing a panic attack is that the symptoms may resemble those of other diseases and conditions.
For example, a rapid heartbeat may induce an individual to believe they are experiencing a heart attack. Shortness of breath may indicate the presence of a breathing condition.
Numerous symptoms of a panic attack are often associated with thyroid problems.
Due to the likelihood that the panic attack may pass before the client can reach a doctor or hospital, they are left attempting to articulate their symptoms. Their memory of those symptoms may be distorted, or the doctors may mistake them because to their inability to perceive them.
Treatment Options for Panic Attacks
While diagnosing a panic attack might be challenging at times, there are strategies to treat and manage them in order to decrease their frequency and prevent them from taking over your life.
Cognitive behavior therapy is perhaps the most effective treatment option on which task teams from the American and Canadian Psychological Associations concur.
What is Cognitive Behavior Therapy, and how does it differ from other types of therapy?
Cognitive behavior therapy, alternatively referred to as anxiety therapy, is a form of psychological technique used to treat people suffering from depression, anxiety, substance abuse, or panic attacks.
Psychologists use this treatment to alter an individual's way of thinking. They teach kids how to identify and change unfavorable thought habits and how to think more clearly.
Additionally, cognitive behavior therapy entails developing a greater understanding of why others do and say the things they do. This helps alleviate individuals' perceptions or feelings that everyone is constantly judging their behaviors or activities.
Finally, individuals develop new techniques for problem-solving and coping with difficult situations during these treatment sessions. This may help individuals avoid panic attacks in the future, as they are more equipped to deal with the stressful events that previously triggered an attack.
Panic Attacks: Recognizing and Treating
Panic episodes are often debilitating. They can give you the impression that you have no control over your body or the scenario in which you find yourself.
Additionally, they can make you fearful of future attacks. You may be fearful of being attacked at work or in public, luring you to stay inside and avoid these situations totally.
Panic attacks can also be frightening for people who are close to the person experiencing them. Family and friends may feel helpless and incapable of offering any assistance. Parents who suffer from panic attacks may find themselves juggling the care of small children and themselves.