I know that I have said this before, but it is very important, so I am going to say it again.

At the onset of a panic attack or id you believe that you may be suffering from panic disorder, it is best to go see your doctor immediately and be evaluated.

This will not only give you a clear understanding of the type and severity of the condition, but it can also prevent the disorder from becoming worse.

Today we are going to go over several possible scenarios that could happen if you don’t get help for panic attacks.

First we have Agoraphobia.

Contrary to public belief, agoraphobia is not the fear of closed spaces. It is actually fear of public places basing from the Greek
root word “agora” which means market or marketplace.

Agoraphobics fear interaction with people especially in places where they expect to experience episodes of panic or anxiety. Panic attacks and agoraphobia are often closely connected as these disorders exhibit identical symptoms such as shortness of breath, the sensation of dying or going crazy, and the feeling of having heart attack.

Over-dependence on psychotherapeutic drugs, specifically anti-anxiety disorder medications. For manage their condition on their own often rely on medications as the ultimate solution against their panic attacks.

While over-dependence on medication to control the symptoms of panic attacks is not the same as addiction to the medications, this behavior still poses serious possible problems since the people who become dependent on drugs often fail to utilize other more effective treatments.

There is also the risk that they will become too dependent that they would fail to function properly without the necessary dosage of particular drugs.

Although there are times where some dependence on medications is necessary and effective, especially in severe cases, you must keep in mind that it is not the only solution.

There are less intensive, less invasive, but equally appropriate therapies and methods that are sometimes overlooked.

Next we have Depression.

Studies show that 20% of panic attack patients are likely to commit suicide, as a result of depression.

The connection between panic attacks and depression can be viewed from several different standpoints. Depression often develops from a person’s exhaustion caused by chronic anxiety that typically accompany panic attacks.

Another explanation supports the fact that people with panic attacks often develop serious cases of agoraphobia which prevents them from socializing with other people and from doing the things that they previously enjoyed. This all leads to a general feeling of isolation, unhappiness and may lead to the development of depression.

Then there is Diabetes.

While diabetes is not commonly associated with panic or anxiety it is not uncommon to find that people who are suffering from panic
attacks also have indications of other illnesses like diabetes. These are considered comorbid disorders, which is when a person experiences two or more disorders simultaneously.  Research shows that people with diabetes who also experience intermittent episodes of panic attacks as well as suffer with depression are less likely to live quality lives and are also more likely to develop complications because they are not as capable of monitoring and controlling their blood glucose levels efficiently.

Last we have substance abuse.

Chronic misuse of alcohol and other unhealthy substances is a often coping mechanism that people use to combat the negative side effects of panic and anxiety disorders. As long as the panic attacks continue the chronic use of these substances will exist.

So there you have it. Some very possible scenarios that could happen if a person doesn’t get professional help for their anxiety
and panic attacks. Hopefully you can now understand why  I encourage you to seek the help of your physician if you feel that
you or someone you love is suffering with an anxiety or panic disorder.

As we well know by now anxiety is a feeling of fear, apprehension and discomfort over any given situation. The feelings associated with anxiety are actually good and healthy in most cases, simply because it enables the body to recognize and react  the way that it is supposed to.

Our built in “flight or fight” response gives the body an instant boost of energy that it needs to react in specific situations. In this case, anxiety is helpful. However, if it gets intense, recurring and exaggerated, it is considered an anxiety attack.

As we have discussed before, the exact cause of anxiety attacks isn’t  fully understood, but research suggests that genetics, life experiences and brain chemistry contribute to the onset of attacks. What we do know is that during an attack, a person’s body
shows certain signs and physical changes.

The immediate sign of an anxiety attack is increased heartbeat or palpitations. This is one of the most distressing among anxiety symptoms.

Under normal circumstances this is a good thing because the heart works harder to pump more blood to your body, especially to your arms and your legs, enabling a surge of energy that allows you to respond quicker than normal to an emergency.

Next the chest feels tight, as if it refuses to expand to accommodate air that the body needs. Sometimes, the feeling is like someone is pushing a pillow into your face.

During an anxiety attack, you breathe faster than normal. As your arms and legs receive more oxygen and energy, your muscles tend to get tense, which is important when abrupt movement is needed.

As your arms and legs receive more supply of oxygen through the blood, other parts of the body receive less than normal supply of oxygen. For example, the stomach can survive with less oxygen during emergency situations, so the oxygen that is normally supposed to go to the stomach is redirected to the arms and legs.

This explains why a person who is undergoing an anxiety attack often experiences nausea and a churning feeling in the stomach.

The brain can also survive with less oxygen for a short period of time and this causes a person to become light-headed and dizzy. There is no need to worry, the reduced supply of oxygen to the brain is just enough to produce these symptoms and doesn’t cause any permanent brain damage.

Because your heart pumps more blood to your muscles, your body temperature increases. So to keep a relatively normal temperature a person having an attack will begin to sweat.

Along with these signs, the person may also experience muscle weakness, fatigue, tingling sensations, and dry mouth. In some cases side- effects may also include diarrhea and constant urination.

These body responses are automatic. Meaning, there is no “switch” to turn it on and there is also no way you can turn it off.
Simply thinking that you shouldn’t feel any of these symptoms will not work in this situation.

What can be done, especially if the attack is chronic, recurring and it already affects your life, is to seek medical help. This way, your doctor will be able to identify and rule out any other possible causes of these signs which are unrelated to anxiety.

Make sure you look for your next issue soon. We will be talking about  what happens if you don’t get treatment for panic attacks?

Consulting a psychologist, or a behavioral therapist for that matter, regarding panic attacks may be the best course of action that you can take for yourself. Especially if you are not convinced that you can actually help yourself get better.

But if you aren’t ready to take that step just yet than you will somehow you have to take action and learn to control your
feelings of panic and anxiety yourself. Here are some ways that can help yourself cope with panic attacks.

Remember, you are what you think. If you think that you are afraid of something, you will actually become afraid of that thing,
regardless of how irrational that fear may be. If you expect to have a panic attack at any time, you might actually have one.

The mind is so powerful that it can actually trigger experiences that are frightening enough to cause you extreme levels of panic. Why not use that same power of your mind to your advantage.

Based on the principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a psychotherapeutic approach, a person has the capacity to
manipulate dysfunctional reactions, emotions, cognition and behaviors in order to arrive at a more cohesive and healthier well-
being.

Given that panic attacks are triggered by your brain, you can help your brain tone down certain symptoms. While simple positive
thoughts can help you direct your experience of panic attacks, more intensive and systematic Cognitive Behavioral Therapies
can provide you an atmosphere of peace that is free from panic attacks.

Run towards the object of your fear. People have the natural tendency to get away from things, places and events that they
associate with bad experiences. But the thing is, running away from something won’t help release you from your fear, it may
actually aggravate your condition. This is because you are somehow reinforcing your fear by feeding in more dosages of fear
to your current condition which is the last thing you should really want to do.

No matter how difficult the idea of facing your fear may seem, it is actually among the most effective ways to help you cope and
overcome panic attacks. Once you confront the object of your fear or the cause of your panic attacks, you can gain more courage to
subdue the symptoms without having to resort to pills and medications.

Win yourself over. Sometimes, it is much easier to accept your lack of sense of control after undergoing panic attack symptoms.
One thing will lead to another until you find yourself completely powerless against your condition. Unfortunately, many people
become victimized of their own disorders only because they didn’t do anything to save themselves from triggering a panic
attack.

If you can try to gain power over yourself and over your symptoms little by little, you can learn how to effectively cope, live with or entirely remove symptoms from your life.

Make sure you look for your next issue soon. We will be talking about the physical signs of an anxiety attack.

As we well know episodes of anxiety attacks can be uncomfortable, unpleasant and unhealthy. Because of this, most people head to the medicine cabinet for a some fore of relief for their symptoms.

While some may find medications an effective way to battle anxiety, there are more natural and equally effective ways of dealing your excessive emotion without subjecting the body to different negative side-effects.

While all of the techniques that we are going to talk about today are simply a part of living a healthy lifestyle, that doesn’t mean that
they are easy to incorporate into our busy daily routines.

While actually touched on these subjects before, but they play such a vital role in the fight against anxiety that they are well worth
going over again.

Let’s start off with one of the most important and that is exercise.

Exercise is at the top of the list because it improves the overall health of the body and mind.  A mere 30 minutes of exercise, 3-5
times a week is enough to provide you with a nice amount of anxiety relief. Increasing to at least an hour of aerobic exercise
day will provide you with maximum benefits for relieving stress and anxiety.

It doesn’t have to extremely strenuous or all at one time. You can break it up into smaller sessions at different levels of intensity,
because exercise is cumulative. So you can start out with a 10 minute work out in the morning and finish off with a 20 minute walk
after dinner. Find a way to make it enjoyable and easy to include in your daily routine.

Get the right amount of sleep.

A popular adage, “early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,” speaks of the importance of sleep
in the overall health of a person. It is very important to your overall health to get at least 8 hours of sleep a day. This is a well proven
and effective technique to battle stress as well as ward off anxiety attacks.

Eat a healthy diet.

Along with exercise and sleep, diet plays an important role in the overall health of the body. Eating healthy foods will help your body chemistry maintain normal hormone levels as well as providing increased resistance to common ailments and illnesses that increase the risk of having and anxiety attack.

Avoid unnecessary stress.

Most stressors are unavoidable and it is unhealthy to turn your back to certain situations that need to be addressed. Still, some situations and people cause unnecessary stress that may lead to and anxiety attack. Avoid people that stress you out, learn how to
say ‘no’, trim down your to-do-list, avoid sensitive topics such as politics and religion, etc.

Use relaxation techniques.

Yoga, meditation, Taiji, progressive muscle relaxation, visualization and breathing exercises can reduce anxiety and
promote the feeling of relaxation and emotional well-being.

Keep a positive outlook on life.

While it is very difficult to maintain a good attitude when experiencing an anxiety attack, it is very crucial to be more
conscious and help stay in control over the situation to effectively battle your condition. Don’t  think “Oh no, not again!” or “I can’t
make it though this” when an episode hits you. Remind yourself that it is only temporary and that it will be over soon. This will help
you control your emotions, so that your anxiety will now get worse.

If these techniques don’t  work for you, it is probably time to consult a health professional about the problems you are facing.

Since the symptoms of anxiety attacks may be a result of other psychological and physical conditions, you need to consult your
doctor and get a complete physical in order to rule out any other possible causes.

If the anxiety prevails and symptoms last for more than 1 to 2 weeks, especially if you have no idea why then it is time to seek the help of a trained therapist.

A person with a severe anxiety disorder will usually be prescribed medication, therapy or both. Prescription drugs for anxiety are
usually antidepressants and benzodiazepines. However, they provide short-term relief and thus, other therapy is often
recommended.

Therapy often consists of cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure therapy. They are both effective (especially when
combined with medication) to treat anxiety disorders. Cognitive- behavioral therapy helps patients to replace negative thoughts
with positive ones.

Exposure therapy, on the other hand, helps treat anxiety attacks by subjecting the patients to control fear in a safe and controlled environment. Through repeated exposure, patients gain greater self control and more confidence when facing a fearful situation.

Make sure you look for your next issue soon. We will be talking about the

As we discussed in the last issue, many factors that can make people vulnerable to panic attacks and while the cause of panic attacks is still not fully understood. What is known is that it can happen to anyone, without any reason, regardless of age.

Meaning, that a happy and healthy person has an equal chance of experiencing a panic attack as someone who are depressed and unhealthy. An panic attack can rear its ugly head at anytime. It can happen while you are at home, sitting on your couch, watching television, while driving, shopping or walking, at the office, etc. It can even happen while you are asleep!

Given these circumstances, methods of treatment may vary from person to person, depending on their conditions, symptoms, lifestyle, and frequency of attacks. Typically however, treatment involves psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)  and/or medication. Other treatments that can be employed are meditation, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and herbal treatment that we have discussed before.

Anti-anxiety medications such as Ativan, Xanax and Klonopin provide quick relief from the symptoms panic attack.

Benzodiazepines have immediate effects, usually within 30 minutes to an hour. Benzodiazepines, however, are highly addictive and have some serious withdrawal symptoms.

Anti- depressant drugs (Paxil, Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, and Celexa) should be taken continuously before you can begin to notice the effects, usually up to 6 months to a year. You can’t  take anti-depressant drugs just during an attack.

In addition, since you can’t  anticipate when you will have an attack, only those who are diagnosed with panic disorder (or
recurring panic attacks) can acquire these types of drug.

Panic attacks, as well as panic disorder, agoraphobia and other phobias and related conditions can be treated effectively by psychotherapy. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is proven as an effective way to reduce the symptoms of panic attacks or completely eliminate the condition.

CBT focuses on changing the thinking pattern of the person from negative to positive thoughts as well as changing the way a
person reacts or behaves when they encounter an emergency or situations that can trigger an attack.

Another treatment similar to CTB that is worth mentioning is exposure therapy. This helps the person overcome their fear by letting them face fearful situations in a controlled and safe manner.

The result of this technique is that the person learns how to react positively to what they think during fearful situations. Moreover,
through the experience, the patient learns that the situation that they fear is not harmful and dangerous.

In many cases, medication alone or therapy alone is enough to completely treat the condition, but other cases require both
treatment methods to effectively treat panic disorder.

As we have discussed before, meditation, breathing exercises, and relaxation techniques have been found effective in reducing
the chances of experiencing another attack. They help calm the mind and relax the muscles. Regularly practicing these exercises
and techniques strengthen the body’s relaxation response.

Natural herbs such as bacopin, ginkgo biloba, passion flower, St. John Wort, hyperforin, 5HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan), chamomile,
rhodiola, are equally effective since they have natural anti-stress properties. In some cases, using these herbs is sufficient enough
to combat panic attacks. Many people also react positively using this kind of treatment.

Fresh leaves can be made as tea. Some are also available over- the-counter in oil, tincture, capsule, powder and tea. The best thing about these natural herbs is that they don’t  carry as many side effects as compared to mainstream anti-anxiety and anti depressant prescription medications.

As I have said before, please consult your physician or health care professional before using any type of treatment.

Make sure you look for your next issue soon. We will be talking about different things that you can do to stop anxiety attacks.

Panic attacks don’t  come from out of nowhere, though the possibility of them coming out of the blue can’t be discounted. Nonetheless, there is always that something that triggers the occurrence of such attacks. Experts believe that there are many pre-disposing factors that make people vulnerable to panic attacks.

Including the following:

Genetics.

Panic attacks run in the family. If your great grandfather suffered with an anxiety and/or panic disorder, then there is a relative possibility that you might as well. In typical cases, people who have relatives with panic attacks are twice more likely to experience either acute or chronic but intermittent episodes of panic disorder than people who don’t. Nonetheless, there are people who have family history of panic attacks that don’t  develop the disorder.

Medical causes.

There are several medical conditions that can lead to the development of panic disorder and panic attacks. Among them are mitral valve prolapse, hypoglycemia, hyperthyroidism, abrupt withdrawal from medication usage, and use of stimulants.

Mitral valve prolapse, otherwise known as MVP, is a heart disease that affects the mitral valves, the part of the heart that prevents the back flow of blood. The symptoms of this disease is shortness of breath and chest pain along with others.

Not only do these symptoms resemble those of panic attacks but research by the American Heart Association confirmed that there is a direct link between MVP and panic attacks.

Hypoglycemia, on the other hand, is a condition characterized by a lower level of blood glucose. Meanwhile, hyperthyroidism is also a condition that is somehow linked with panic attacks. This condition is caused by the overproduction of thyroid hormones namely T3 and T4 hormones.

Abrupt withdrawal from certain medications is also believed to be a cause of panic attacks since it may trigger sudden changes in the body.  Another factor that may lead to the development of panic attacks is the use of stimulant substances such as beverages with  high caffeine content and marijuana.

Medications.

The body’s reaction to foreign materials with medical properties isn’t  always necessarily positive. There are cases when the substances found in the drugs produce the right conditions in the body conducive to the arousal of panic attacks.

For example, methylphenidate which is more commonly known as Ritalin is used for patients with ADHD or Attention Deficit. It is used to treat Hyperactivity Disorder as well as narcolepsy which can also cause panic attacks for some people.

Gender.

According to studies females are 50% more likely than their male counterparts to develop the disorder.

Major life events.

Substantial events in life that lead to extreme changes can create the right environments for the occurrence of panic attacks. This may be because such drastic changes create tension in a person’s life, upsetting the order of things and forcing the person to confront the changes.

If the person fails to respond accordingly, the tension may persist and they might be overcome by it. Thus, producing a number of symptoms that could be characterized under psychological disorders, panic attacks included.

Phobias.

Although the statistics are not established yet, it seems clear that people who have severe cases of phobias are more susceptible to developing panic disorders. This could be due to the fact that phobias cause elevated levels of fear to start with.

So as you can see there are many factors that can make people vulnerable to panic attacks regardless of age, race or family history. Understanding what may lead to a panic disorder will help you to better understanding how to combat the symptoms associated with them.

Make sure you look for your next issue soon. We will be talking about the various treatments available for panic attacks.

For a person that has never experienced an anxiety attack, they can be seen as an abnormal and irrational panic over trivial things or accidents or for no reason at all.

As we have talked about before, attacks usually occur without warning and a person can simply burst into fear.

Certain triggers can set off an anxiety attack. For instance, getting stuck in an elevator, being called to speak in class or present a presentation at work,  but in other cases attacks come out of the blue.

An anxiety attack is disproportionate reaction to the situation or problem at hand, leaving the person excessively fearful, or sometimes incapacitated, which affects life, relationships, happiness and peace of mind.

A person undergoing an episode of anxiety can exhibit several symptoms at varying degrees during and attack.

As we know these attacks usually peak within 10 minutes and rarely last for about a half an hour. But during that time, a person can totally lose control of themselves and show multiple symptoms

To handle an  attack, a person must:

First try to relax.

Although it is often impossible to relax during an attack, it is very crucial not to submit to the emotion. Deep breathing helps. It calms and relaxes your mind and body.

During an anxiety attack, focus your breathing to slow down your heartbeat. That also diverts your attention from the attack which helps you recover faster. Take some time and practice deep breathing exercises even if you are not stressed or feel anxious.

Think positively.

Again, during an anxiety attack, it is often impossible to relax and calm yourself, but you have to be in control. Do your best to push positive thoughts to your head.

Don’t anticipate that something bad will happen because in reality, there isn’t. Keep in mind that the more you think negatively, the more anxious and panicky it is going to be.

Keep reminding yourself that it will be over soon.

And it will.  Anxiety attacks only last for a short time, so there is no reason for you to think and feel that your world is over. You  don’t have to be mindful of the time. You don’t even have to count every minute that passed. What you should be doing is be  conscious that it will not going to last forever.

Start an exercise program.

I am sure that you are aware that exercise has lots of benefits for both to the body and the mind. It is also a great stress buster and anxiety reliever. Experts agree that as little as 30 minutes of exercise, 3 to 5 times a week is enough to lower the level of stress and reduce the chances of having episodes of anxiety attacks.

Talk to someone you trust.

It can be your friend, your spouse, a relative or a therapist. Often, having someone who listens and understands what a person is going through will make a lot of difference.

Make sure you look for your next issue soon. We will be talking about what makes people vulnerable to panic attacks.

Did you know that anxiety, panic attacks, OCD and phobias ARE NOT illnesses? You can put a STOP to obsessive symptoms and
sensations that plague you everyday! Follow a few  simple rules and you will notice your symptoms start to fade away naturally!
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