Panic Attacks Help – How to Stop Panic Attacks
Searching the American Journal of Psychiatry website results in more than twenty-five thousand articles that speak to panic disorder and panic attacks. That statistic says a lot about the prevalence of this disorder and how many people are seeking {panic attacks help.~The prevalence of the disorder and how widely it is studied is solidified by the number of people seeking help.~That indicates that there is a high prevalence of this disorder, and says even more about how common it is and the number of people seeking help for panic attacks.~That statistic would suggest quite a bit about how widely the disorder is studied and the number of people seeking help for panic attacks.} A Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) that can be administered by a clinician was developed in 1997 by M. Katherine Shear, M.D., of the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Seven different factors (listed below) are used to determine how to stop panic attacks for each individual patient, and this scale is widely accepted in the medical community. The seven factors are: panic frequency; distress during panic; panic-focused anticipatory anxiety; phobic avoidance of situations; phobic avoidance of physical sensations; impairment in work functioning; and impairment in social functioning.
One or more of these factors are sure to be recognized by people who suffer from panic attacks as things that negatively disrupt their lives. These people may or may not have undergone assessment by the PDSS, but that doesn’t make them any less prone to the symptoms of panic attacks, and the constant fear that they will suffer another attack. This article will focus on how to stop panic attacks based on psychiatric and psychological treatment.
First, Understand What Panic Attacks Are
What are panic attacks? What causes them? Why do medical professionals believe they occur? A panic attack is an intensely frightening experience that is the nucleus of panic disorder. The following symptoms can all be experienced by someone having a panic attack: choking or smothering sensations; fear of losing control, dying, or “going crazy”; feeling unsteady; feelings of nearly paralyzing terror; nausea or stomach pains; numbness or tingling in fingers or toes; shortness of breath; and sweating. Knowing this, it becomes easy to understand why some people take themselves to the emergency department, fully believing that they are having a heart attack.
Usually a person will have their first panic attack when they are between the ages of 25 and 30. There are times when someone’s panic attack has been set off by a life-altering event such as divorce, the death of a loved one, or even the birth of a child or upcoming marriage, but is unfortunately mistaken for another condition. If a person has a panic attack and does not immediately correlate it to the trigger that caused it, it can be hard to determine what started the attacks, and can also delay treatment.
Patients may believe they recognize their triggers and begin to try to avoid them, which can lead to other serious issues, such as agoraphobia and other phobia-type illnesses. This cycle can become a slippery slope of sorts, growing worse and worse over time without treatment. Encouragement comes in the form of a statistic – about 90% of people who suffer from identified panic disorder can beat it, living healthy and panic-free for the remainder of their lives.
What Are the Medical Treatment Options?
Administered through one of two types of therapy (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy [CBT] and Exposure Therapy), psychotherapy is the first treatment option. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy has as its first goal uncovering the reasons for the attacks, so the patient will generally be asked to keep a record of them, after being provided with education about their disorder. The patient will learn breathing techniques so that he or she is able to control the attacks they experience. This method of therapy assumes that outside influences do not control the patient, but rather their own thoughts are in charge, and teaches the patient how to master his or her thoughts in order to overcome the catastrophic feelings they have while they are having an attack. help.~In the medical community, this type of therapy is thought to be the quickest way to get help.~This therapy is regarded as the quickest way to get panic attacks help by the medical community.~The quickest way to get help for panic attacks is how the medical community regards this type of therapy.}
Exposure Therapy is a form of CBT that exposes the patient to the triggers that cause their attacks. Such triggers can be traumatic experiences that the patient has lived through, different situations, or memories and thoughts that sparks their attack. The patient, with help from the therapist, will first try to determine what the exact triggers are. Of course, this can be easier said than done. Once the trigger (or triggers) has been determined, the therapist then introduces the patient to that situation, thought or memory in small doses; forcing them to face up to the very thing that causes them to have panic attacks. The underlying theory is that if you can face your fear, you can overcome your fear.
Medicinal Therapies
Drug therapies can be used along with psychotherapy to help a patient deal with the symptoms of attacks and their occurrence. Drugs prescribed for this purpose will fall into one of four basic categories: Tricyclic Antidepressants; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs); Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs); and Benzodiazepines.
The first category are Tricyclic Antidepressants, and they boast a whopping twenty-something side effects, ranging from the mild (dry mouth) to the severe (irregular heartbeat and muscle breakdown. These drugs are quickly being replaced by the use of SSRIs (described below), because of their toxicity.
Without expounding on the scientific values, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors increase the amount of serotonin in the body. While serotonin is an organic compound (a neurotransmitter) that regulates a person’s mood, the side-effects of these drugs are many, with the most notable being sexual side-effects such as erectile dysfunction and decreased libido, along with renal or liver impairment and headaches.
Prescribed chiefly for smoking cessation and as antidepressants are Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors. So strong are these that they can interact with many foods and other drugs, and can even kill you as a result of the wrong interaction, so they are not as widely used as the others.
Amnesia, hostility, irritability and disturbing dreams are just a few of the side-effects of Benzodiazepines , which the Drug Enforcement Agency has classified as depressants, and which can act, in high doses, as hypnotics. Although the long-term effects should not be overlooked, these have been shown to help control panic attacks.
help for panic attacks.~Many people have found medications to be very effective in their efforts seek help, despite the scary side-effects.~Despite the scary side-effects of drugs, there are a whole host of individuals who have found them to be especially effective in their quest for panic attack relief.~Yes, these are some pretty scary facts, but remember, too, that folks all over the world have found them to be invaluable in their efforts to get panic attacks help.} It is critical that you do your homework before you begin any form of therapy, and do not hesitate to discuss your concerns about drug therapy with your doctor before he or she hands you a prescription.