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Posts Tagged ‘panic disorder’

Panic attacks and anxiety attacks are the same thing really. It doesn’t make them any less frightening though! I was witness to my wife suffering a panic attack while at the wheel of our car. It’s the understatement of a lifetime to say I was scared!

If you think you might be showing symptoms of anxiety attacks there’s a simple test you can do. All you do is go through a series of check boxes. Select either yes or no. Check out the notes at the end of the test and it will tell you whether you may need to do something about it.

The test is basically a big list of possible anxiety symptoms. If you find you have ticked a few boxes you may need to act quickly! Trust me; you do not want to suffer an anxiety attack at an unsuitable moment.

If you are showing any symptoms from the anxiety test then you can follow the links to get further info on how to stop them dead before they start. I know it’s possible as my wife uses this technique to beat her panic attacks. Before we discovered this lifesaving technique my wife went through all manner of doctors and shrinks. All useless!

The biggest symptom of panic attacks is probably a rapid heartbeat & shallow breath. These symptoms usually start with no apparent reason. Then they quickly move to an almost mortifying fear of dread.

Once the symptoms start you then start to panic about the actual anxiety symptoms. This makes it much worse and very difficult to get control. However, if you can recognise the signs early and know the techniques you can stop them dead in their tracks without any other ill effects.

Once you learn to spot these coming attacks you can halt them before they get any where near an attack. As you get better and better at this your panic attacks will become a thing of history.

Many sufferers of anxiety, panic attacks, and panic disorder have tried to control their symptoms with medication, but the use of medication is simply not an ideal solution. In most cases, the commonly-prescribed medications fail to fully control symptoms, and most people who use medications will usually experience at least mild side-effects, and often major side-effects that require the discontinuation of the medication.

Physicians who prescribe medication for panic attacks and anxiety disorders will often not take a patients concerns about side-effects seriously or they may deny that what the patient is experiencing is even a possible side-effect of the medication. This may be out of denial on the part of some physicians that what they prescribed could possibly be doing harm, or it may simply be that they feel the side-effects are a good trade-off if the drugs help with the patients panic attacks and anxiety. Either way, many doctors will avoid dealing with patient concerns about side-effects if they can.

The lack of communication about the potential problems of medications between doctors and patients can lead to frustration for many patients. Some sufferers of panic attacks and anxiety wind up giving up hope for a real solution and resolve themselves to tolerating the side effects as best they can in the hopes that the medication will keep their anxiety and panic symptoms to a tolerable level.

Fortunately, there are effective methods for handling panic attacks and anxiety without medication. Various self-help and professional counselling techniques can often help individuals prepare for situations that might trigger panic attacks and train them to calm themselves down quickly and effectively. These methods include cognitive therapy, neurolinquistic programming (NLP), the Sedona Method, and Emotional Freedom Technique.

Each of these methods has its own unique strengths. While one may work better for a given individual than another, all of them provide tools to help panic attack sufferers to take back control of their minds. The vast majority of people are able to use one or more of these methods to make panic attacks and anxiety a thing of the past.