Overcoming Panic Attacks - Your Own Foolproof Method

Overcoming panic attacks is not an easy thing to do by any stretch. These abrupt attacks of anxiety and fear are usually mistaken for nervous breakdowns or heart attacks by those experiencing them due to their overpowering symptoms. Many recall that a panic attack is the most uncomfortable, upsetting, and frightening thing they ever felt. Fortunately, ways have been found to help deal with them.

Treatment is the first thing you should consider following your panic attack. Psychologists and psychiatrists have been successfully treating panic attacks for decades and they understand the myriad causes of panic attacks and that they must treat each patient in a different way, depending on their situation and causation. Your mental health professional will advise medication, extended counseling, or will give you recommendations on how to cope with further panic attacks should you have them. This last option is reserved for those who are the least at risk of having further attacks.

Many doctors will recommend counseling alone because some patients have medical reasons for not taking medication or because they simply do not need them in their situation. Counseling is equally as effective as medication, but takes longer to work. It lacks the biological punch of medication and instead relies on you and your situation to determine its timeliness.

Medication is probably the most common treatment available for panic attacks. Drugs such as Klonopin (also known as clonazepam,) Paxil (also known as paroxetine), Xanax (also known as alprazolam), and Zoloft (also known as sertraline) can successfully help most patients with their panic attacks and possibly vanquish them altogether. These drugs can only be prescribed by a psychiatrist and it is imperative that you follow your doctor orders to the letter if you are prescribed one of them.

If your mental health professional finds that your panic attack was an isolated incident brought on by particular conditions, you may just be given advice on how to deal with any further attacks should they occur. You may be advised to breathe deeply through your nose or breathe into a paper bag during a panic attack to balance the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in your blood, which can bring you back into a more normalized state and calm you down. You may also be given statements that you can think to yourself during an attack, such as, doesn feel great, but I can deal with it. or one has ever died from a panic attack. You may also be advised to avoid thinking by focusing on the present or with the symptoms (go with the flow instead of fighting them).

Conclusion

Fortunately there are many methods available to you for dealing with panic attacks. If you have had a panic attack, you most definitely should seek out a mental health professional that can give you recommendations on how to get on with your life and move forward. Overcoming panic attacks is definitely possible with the help of a psychiatrist or psychologist.