Treatments For Anxiety Attacks

Wednesday, May 20th, 2009

Anxiety attacks are frightening but the good thing is, episodes are generally harmless. In most cases, attacks rarely last for more than 30 minutes, with peak of intensity within the first 10 minutes. What make such attacks dangerous is if it becomes chronic and if it already affects the well-being of a person and already disrupts his normal way of life.

Several treatments are proven very effective in stopping anxiety attacks. Let us look at some of the more popular ones:

Breathing technique – is one of the most effective ways in controlling anxiety attacks. Proper breathing helps slow down heartbeat and helps calm the tensed muscles as a result of the attack. Breathing also diverts the mind’s attention from the “trigger” and calms the self, thus, stopping the attack even faster. Proper breathing techniques are easy to learn and master.

Anxiety and DepressionSelf-hypnosis – is a great tool to alter your thought process as well as your body’s reaction to those fearful thoughts. During an anxiety attack, lay down on your back or in any comfortable position and try to process your thoughts. Identify the origin of such fearful thoughts. Know if it is real. If you concentrate enough in finding the origins of your thoughts, you will soon realize that they are really not a valid reason for excessive fear. It may sound simple, and it is. Psychiatrists now recommend self-hypnosis as a treatment for anxiety attacks and other anxiety disorders. (Hypnosis and cognitive-behavioral therapy can be used together by your therapist to stop symptoms of anxiety attacks.)

Meditation – has long been credited to relieve stress and anxiety as it promotes the release of negative energy from the body, relaxes tensed muscles, and calms the mind, which in turn, effectively reduces irrational fear and apprehension. Meditation may not be for all because of the time required to master the technique, however, with proper guidance of an expert or a little bit of patience and dedication, you can reap its benefits.

Herbs – (such as chamomile, passion flower, lavender, and ginkgo biloba) are very effective long-term treatment for anxiety attacks. Since they are all-natural, they posses no side effects. They may not be as aggressive as prescription drugs but they work just as effective.

Prescription medicines – are a major help in stopping the symptoms of anxiety and episodes of anxiety attacks. Antidepressants are the most common anxiety treatment. They must be taken continuously, which may take as long as six weeks before noticing the effects. Beta-blockers are a type of drugs that prevent symptoms from recurring. SSRIs or Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors boost the level of serotonin in the brain which regulates and normalizes emotions.

Therapies – are a very important anxiety treatment. These target the psychological aspect of anxiety. CBT or the cognitive-behavioral therapy is used to alter the way of thinking – converting negative thoughts into positive ones. Techniques used in CBT include role-playing and relaxation technique. Exposure therapy exposes the person to the physical sensations of panic in a safe and controlled environment. Through repeated exposure, patients gain greater self control and more confidence in facing fearful situation.

Prescription medicines and therapies, when combined and used at treatment, are very effective. Medical studies show that the response rate of patients is much higher if both methods are used compared to those that are treated using either method.

Relieve Anxiety Depression

Friday, August 15th, 2008

Introduction: What is panic? What is anxiety? And when is it a disorder? - Understanding classification

The definition of Panic Attacks is a discrete period in which there is the sudden onset of the intense apprehension, fearfulness, or terror, often associated with feelings of impending doom. During these attacks, symptoms such as shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, choking or smothering sensations, and fear of “going crazy” or losing control are present (DSM-4). Anxiety Disorders, which are often associated with Panic Attacks, are characterized by a severe increase in the level of stress or anxiety. This increase can be related to the presence of particular events or items (triggers) and can also exists without being prompted by any known triggers.

Anxiety Disorders include the following specific disorders: Anxiety Disorder with or without Agoraphobia, Agoraphobia without History of Panic Disorder, Specific Phobia, Social Phobia, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Acute Stress Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Anxiety Disorder Due To a General Medical Condition, Substance-Induced Anxiety Disorder, and Anxiety Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. Of this list there are five major Anxiety Disorders, which are; Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.

Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia, or “Avoidant Personality Disorder” are of the most prevalent, occurring in the context of several of these disorders. Description of Categories and Types of Panic Attacks

DSM-4 (Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition) recognizes three different types of Panic Attacks:

1. Un-cued (spontaneous) Panic Attacks (relates to Panic Disorder).

2. Cued (specific) Panic Attacks (relates to Social Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder).

3. Situationally predisposed Panic Attacks (may occur on exposure to the situational cue or trigger, but do not necessarily occur immediately after the exposure).

Anxiety Disorders

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

Anxiety Stress is a normal part of spirit, and anxiety is an equally normal reaction to it. Anxiety Disorder provides us with the adrenaline and pipeline to cope with the demands that stress puts on us. However, there are cases wherein the anxiety level is beyond what is considered normal. Spurt is chronic and persistent equivalent when no triggers are present to elicit this feeling. When this happens, generalized anxiety disorders develops.

Living with anxiety disorders is one of the most strenuous experiences a person can own. Scheme spending each day in resolved worry with no peace of mind at any inured life. The brainpower and body are always in a bleedin’ convey image which can satisfy fatiguing in a immature while. Changed symptoms of anxiety disorders are restlessness, blow up, fatigue, and insomnia. Negative thoughts constantly invade sufferers ‘ minds, origin them with a feeling of dread over great they can ‘ t explicitly define. About Diet Pills

People suffering from anxiety disorders need professional aid as today as possible. If friendless untreated, this disorder blame really intrude with sufferers ‘ characteristic evidence, with functionality badly invented. Generalized anxiety disorders guilt and tie up with depression in the long run, and that hikes up the risk of suicide. However, if an incursion occurs during the primeval stages, the chanced for a whopper retrieval whereas sufferers are very high. Treating anxiety disorders does not involve trustworthy one specific procedure to assailing the problem.

Treatments and their potential differ from one patient to another. Some patients essential a congregation of medication and therapy, while others respond hale to therapy sessions reserved. However, a treatment involving purely medicine is not usually advisable. Medications are considered aids in treating the disorder, but they are not meant to emblematize a sizable stand for. Concern on drugs power worsen the disorder; inasmuch as, anxiety medication ins considered a last resort. Therapy is still viewed due to the most distant treatment being anxiety disorders.

Some kinds of therapy are cognitive therapy and behavior therapy. Cognitive therapy involves controlled and gradual array to situations that institute extreme anxiety. Now a result, the patient learns to also slowly establish a healthy coping mechanism because he doesn ‘ t observe because threatened whereas he normally will.

Cognitive therapy, on the other relief, involves delving buried into the patient ‘ s mind and breaking fragment patterns of thinking that is self - defeating. Haunting thoughts filled with horrific pictures of a bleak unborn are driven these days, and the patient slowly regains his humor of reality. Either appearance of therapy is widely plain being a treatment through anxiety disorders, but it replete depends on the big if forbearing that us going to obligation the treatment. In the end, determining the right treatment through a empathetic is best bummed out in the hands of trained psychiatrists.