Stress & Anxiety Control

Dealing with a panic disorder and the symptoms that develop during an attack is very difficult and frightening for people.  Because even occasional or mild attacks are so disturbing to both body and mind, it is important that the disorder be confirmed and proper medical treatment be provided.  From a medical perspective, doctors recommend different forms of therapy, such as cognitive and behavioral, as well as antidepressant, anti convulsive, and sleep medication.

However, people that live with a panic disorder  need to know they also have options for controlling and even preventing attacks of this type.  In this article, we provide tips on how to stop a panic attack before it gets so bad that the individual has lost complete control.

 Recognize the Onset of Symptoms – The first tip on how to stop a panic attack is about taking preventative measures.  After a person has a firm diagnosis of a panic disorder and knows all the associated symptoms, he or she can then recognize an attacking coming.  Immediately, this person should take inventory of the situation or environment triggering the attack and make appropriate changes.  For instance, if someone has panic attacks because they fear crowds, if symptoms begin, that person should look around to see if a large group of people were around and if so, moving to a quieter location would help stop the attack.

Coping Techniques– Our second tip for how to stop a panic attack deals with coping techniques available to use.  A great example would be the person that has sudden attacks.  In this case, the doctor could prescribe something such as Clonazepam, which is a fast-acting anxiety medication.  Tablets are simply placed beneath the tongue and within minutes, symptoms fade.  Cope techniques could also be using music with earphones to block out sound or other triggers.

 Stimulation – Another tip for how to stop a panic attack has to do with avoiding anything stimulating.  Because a person’s level of stress and nervousness is already peaked, anything that would enhance those senses should be avoided, which would include foods and drinks containing caffeine, chocolate activity, noise, etc.

Visualization and Breathing Methods – Another tip on how to stop a panic attack is to use tools such as visualization or deep breathing.  No matter the location of the person or the trigger producing the attack, he/she could find a place to sit off to the side and go through visualization and deep breathing methods that have proven to be highly successful. 

Support System – Often, being surrounded by family members and friends is enough to calm a situation.  Therefore, if possible, the individual should get loved ones close so the attack and fear of attack could be talked through and stopped before taking hold.

 Journaling– The final tip on how to stop a panic attack is with journaling.  Often, therapies address the value that journaling offers to people with panic disorders.  For many people suffering from stress and anxiety, being able to put emotions and feelings down on paper allows them to go back and read their words so the situation can be rationalized.

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Because many panic attack symptoms are unknown, misunderstood, or overlooked, people living with a panic disorder do not recognize them.  For many panic disorders, symptoms will begin slowly and with low intensity so it would be easy for someone to mistake them for some other type of problem or look at them as just a reaction to normal situations.  However, it is not until the symptoms broaden, become more intense, and last longer that people realize something more serious is going on.

 In general, panic attack symptoms include a broad list, as shown below:

• Heart palpitations
• Excessive sweating or feeling weak or dizzy
• Nausea
• Shortness of Breath
• Tightening of the chest or actual chest pain
• Numbness or tingling of the hands
• Feeling chilled or flushed
• Hot flashes or chills
• Disorientation or confusion
• Sense of doom, loss of control, or even impending death

 To separate normal worry and fear that comes along with various life situations and experiences from actual panic attacks, it is important to understand the symptoms, as well as what they do to a person’s mind and body.  Remember, everyone feels overwhelmed, which is part of life but when anxiety, fear, and a sense of panic stretches beyond “normal”, people should be question whether the things they are feeling and thinking are actually okay or real panic attack symptoms.

For the individual that has frequent and unexpected panic attack symptons, with no connection to an environment, situation, or experience, or worries excessively after having an attack or has made significant changes to behavior and/or activity after having an attack, it is likely that a panic disorder is the culprit.  Once a disorder is suspected, a doctor could provide confirmation.

 In addition to the physical panic attack symptoms listed above, emotional and mental symptoms are also common for this type of disorder to include:

• Anticipatory Anxiety – With this, the individual is constantly stressed and uptight waiting for the next panic attack to strike.  Often, fear associated with experiencing panic attack symptoms are so overwhelming that it literally becomes disabling.  The person would have tight muscles, headaches, stomachaches, confusion, fatigue, and more.
• Phobic Avoidance – At this point, panic attack symptoms have become so frequent and intense that being in social settings, around friends or family, working certain jobs, going to school, driving, traveling, and other environmental and situational problems create fear.  Usually, the individual believes that these are the triggers for an attack and that by avoiding them, they regain control, and the attacks disappear.

The bottom line is this – panic disorders and associated panic attack symptoms are serious at any level.  Working with a reputable doctor that is an expert in the field of stress and anxiety can help identify the real triggers.  Then through cognitive, behavioral, social, interaction, and other forms of therapy, the sufferer can learn how to make adjustments, thereby reclaiming life.  This coupled with proper medication to control and prevent panic attack symptoms and the disorder help release the person from the prison in which he/she lived.

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Anyone that has had a panic attack, they would say that no other experience in life compares.  Panic attacks, even if mild, can completely take over a person’s mind and body and in some instances, these attacks leave lasting effects.  Today, it is estimated that more than two million people between ages 18 and 54 just in the United States experience at minimum of one, attack annually.  In severe cases, a person would need to be hospitalized!

 
Overwhelming fear is always a part of every attack, although in different ways for people that have experienced attacks prior and those going through their first attack, as indicated:

 For the person that has gone through panic attacks before, fear is broken down in two ways.  First, this person lives with constant fear by not knowing when the next attack will hit and second, he or she has fear that life will never return to normalcy.

 For the individual that has never had panic attacks and goes through the first, fear is often associated with death.  Because symptoms of these attacks mimic a heart attack, people actually believe they are dying.

 There are positive considerations associated with panic attacks.  For instance, after a person is diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, he or she could learn ways of identifying triggers that would produce an attack, avoiding certain situations, emotions, or environments.  In addition, with proper treatment, up to 90% of people that have ongoing panic attacks bring them under control within one to two months.

 Panic attacks are a type of panic disorder, and for a firm diagnosis the individual would need to have gone through four attacks within a one-month period.  Doctors use very specific criteria during the diagnosisphase, requiring at least four before the disorder is confirmed.

When quick action is taken, through confirmed diagnosis and proper treatment, people have a great chance of regaining control over life.  Unfortunately, too many people ignore symptoms, refuse to be seen by a doctor, or do not follow treatment as instructed.  When this happens, the effects of panic attacks can become devastating.

 Once authentic panic attacks start, they do not go away on their own.  While some people might see a reduction of symptoms over time, usually, numerous symptoms continue for months, if not years or life.  Typically, panic attacks start in the late teens to early twenties, although they can appear later.  Regardless, these attacks change a person’s life forever, and not in a good way.

 If panic attacks go untreated, an individual could face serious and possibly irreversible consequences.  As the attacks continue and symptoms worsen, people begin to distance themselves from life, which results in a loss of friends and intimate relationships, estrangement from family, job loss, leaving school, and sometimes the depression that goes with panic disorders becomes so intense that suicidal thoughts or worse begin.

It is vital for anyone dealing with panic attacks, no matter how intense, to not mistake a quiet period as healing.  Sometimes, symptoms of a panic disorder ease up but this relief is short-lived.  Along with the body being taken over, the mind is also consumed, making it difficult or impossible to make rational decisions.  For this reason, if someone suspects that he or she is having panic attacks, rather than chance it, a doctor should be seen so proper treatment could be started.

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Having shortness of breath is without a doubt the most common symptom of panic and anxiety attacks. It can be an extremely scary feeling since you basically feel as though you can’t breathe, but it’s not actually harmful despite the way it feels.

Some people describe the shortness of breath as being accompanied with tightness in the chest as well. Others say that the shortness is breath makes them feel as though they are suffocating, or chest-deep in water.

One of the worse things that you can do when you feel short of breath is to panic, which is kind of redundant since the feeling is usually brought on during a panic attack. However, as scary as it might feel, you should really try to breathe through it. If you don’t then you will risk hyperventilating, which can make the situation even worse.

There are several things that you can do when you feel a shortness of breath during an anxiety or panic attacks. You should utilize which method works best for you. Some people claim that taking short, shallow breaths will eventually get their breathing back on track. Others claim that trying to hold their breath while they count to 10 is another good way to even it out. A third method is to simply take long, deep breaths and focus on each breath that you take.

Some people think that they are having asthma attacks when they feel shortness of breath during a panic attack. They might even go to their physician and request an inhaler. While asthma sufferers might suffer from shortness of breaths during the attacks as well as the rest of the world, the inhaler is not a solution for those people who do not have asthma. The shortness of breath that is suffered during a panic attack is not the same thing as the inability to breathe during an asthma attack. Therefore, asthma medication will probably not help you in this situation and might even cause harm.

If you find yourself having panic attacks or anxiety attacks frequently and the shortness of breath that accompanies them worries you, then you should definitely pay a visit to your doctor. There is treatment available for panic and anxiety attacks and therefore there is no reason for you to continue to suffer. Although the shortness of breath is not actually harmful, just scary, it can be troublesome and you don’t have to suffer from it.

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