What Is A Panic Attack And How You Can Cure Them

By Justin Plank

A more concrete definition of panic attack will help you understand more of its nature. Basically, you know it has swept over you when you feel an excessive fear and worry over something that should not even elicit such reaction. There are people who rarely go through this but there are unfortunate ones who suffer frequently.

This disorder becomes chronic when in the past, the person repeatedly encountered circumstances that elicit trauma and alarm. Panic attacks may seem harmless, but actually they have a considerable effect on the psychological, emotional and physical state of a person.

Who are prone to panic attacks? Panic disorder is a widespread problem and statistically 10% of the people have been diagnosed with this problem and many more cases are not reported. Generally young people and females are doubly prone to get these attacks, compared to adult males. It can also have a genetic connection where this problem is common among family members.

How will I know whether I am having a panic attack? There are certain symptoms and signals to watch out for. The heart will beat at a faster or uneven rate, pain in the chest area, different muscles getting tensed, profuse sweating, upset or turbulent stomach, shivering, dizzy spells, breathlessness, body feeling suddenly cold or hot, feeling of indifference and detachment and making an effort to get a grip on reality.

Symptoms of panic attacks are similar to the symptoms before a heart attack occurs. Hence, it is best to seek medical attention right away, and not presume it as minor, particularly if you haven't experienced these signals before.

The Cause of a panic attack, in most cases, it is not clear what the root cause is. Some instances may reveal that it is connected to traumatic past experiences. Examples are, death of a loved one, big argument within the family, sour relationship, divorce of parents and public humiliation. Is something similar happens, it may trigger a panic attack.

Panic attacks can also be influenced by stress. When a person is stressed both at home and at work, he or she becomes more susceptible to panic disorder. Panic attacks can also be passed on in the family.

During this malady, what is the best thing to do? Panic attacks can endure for 10 minutes. In rare and worst cases, it can even exceed 30 minutes. During the entire experience the person will exhibit all signs that were mentioned, and they have something to do with the heart rate.

The key to managing a panic attack is to control your breathing. This will help you keep your heart rate down. Once your heart rate is controlled, all the other symptoms will diminish. While breathing in, count slowly to three, hold your breath for the same count and then slowly breathe out for also the same count.

Keep to it until a calm settles over you, and then slowly move around a bit. Some find it more potent to breathe out into a bag, and then inhale the same air. This will increase the carbon-dioxide in the inhalation which in turn corrects the level of acid in the blood, which has got disturbed by breathing fast.

When you are breathing deeply keeping the count, make an effort to focus your mind on some happy events, so that you do not dwell on the situation which brought about the panic attack. You can also concentrate the mind into figuring out a puzzle or play any other game where the mind gets involved. - 31857

About the Author:

Sign Up for our Free Newsletter

Enter email address here