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EVI SHAW: Panic attacks are a natural reaction
0 Comments | Posted by admin in Panic Attack
Syndicated Content from http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2009/oct/05/panic-attacks-are-a-natural-reaction/
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Many emergency room visits are made by people whose panic attack symptoms make them believe they are experiencing a heart attack. These symptoms can include pounding heart rate, feeling dizzy, sweating, feeling hot, chest pain, shakiness, fear of dying and going crazy and more.
Since these symptoms are real to a person, they can be frightening and the person feels extreme panic especially since these attacks tend to appear out of the blue. Some can appear in certain situations or circumstances.
What happens is that a person’s fight and flight response is activated beyond a person’s control. It happens automatically. This response can be useful, because it physically prepares us to run away from a real threat or to become stronger to fight a foe, when normally we may not able to run this fast or be such a strong fighter.
Emotions such as anger, fear, panic and anxiety are strong triggers of the fight/flight response. The central nervous system and the hypothalamic, pituitary, adrenal parts of the brain produce a surge of adrenaline that leads to the basic survival instinct.
Bodily changes occur such as breathing, muscular tension, GI tract irritability, elevated heart rate — all in the absence of the need to run away from a tiger or fight an intruder. So people internalize the discomfort and attribute it to a threat to their own body, e.g. heart attack, or to themselves, e.g. I am going crazy. Therefore, it seems that people who experience panic attacks experience heightened internalization and/or are more sensitive to slight changes in mood or bodily symptoms, which are interpreted as dangerous or catastrophic.
People who do not experience a full blown panic attack tend to not respond to bodily symptoms as strongly and perceive them differently.
Since these attacks are so uncomfortable, people are highly motivated to avoid situations that they perceive as triggers. This ultimately can lead to more and more avoidance and dysfunctional behavior. There is help. Call your therapist, if your doctor ruled out a medical condition. There is no need for you to avoid fully participating in life and suffer.
My next column will address some of the original causes and triggers for panic attacks.
Evi Shaw is a licensed professional counselor in solo private practice, a diplomate of the American Psychotherapy Association and an approved consultant of the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. Contact her at Evishaw@verizon.net.
Panic Attack Heart System Video
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Panic Attack Heart Symptoms
0 Comments | Posted by admin in Heart Attack Symptoms, Panic Attack
Are you still suffering through Panic Attacks? No reason to feel alone if so. More than 2.5 million adults suffer from panic attack symptoms. That’s approximately one out of 75 persons annually. It’s also estimated that 1 in 75 personas experience a Panic Attack in theor lifetime. These panci attacks are often defined by experts as a sudden rush of overwhelming fear. It can strike with no warning and no apparent reasons. Additionally, panic heart attack symptoms can appear as four symptons simultaneously:
Upset Stomach
A Need to Escape
Fear of Losing Control
Fear of Dying
Chest Pains
Racing or Highly Accelerated Heartbeat
Hot Flashes
Breathing Challenges
Numbness in extremeties and tingling
A typical sign of aregular panic attack sufferer is the fear of being in busy public places, especially if alone. Anticipatory anxiety often leads to future panic attacks, and increases the frequency. Panic attacks are also associated with alcohol or cigarette abuse, depression, and many sufferers are a suicide risk.
Severe Panic attacks can be as long as 30 minutes and the symptoms can be mistaken for that of a heart attack. But there are several key differences. With a panic attack, the chest pain is a short, piercing style pain in the chest and sufferers report a tingling throughout the body.
With heart attacks, the chest pain is constant and invokes a crushing sensation upon the chest. The pain will many times radiate to other areas like the jaws, left arm, neck and even the back. You may also feel a tingling sensation in your left arm.
Most doctors prescribe anti-anxiety meds such as diazepam, lorazepam, alprazolam, or clonazepam or antidepressants such as paroxetine, sertraline, or fluvoxamine. These drugs are fast acting in stopping panic attacks but often lead to abuse and dependence. Others recommend behavioral treatments that focus on one’s thoughts. The goal is to try and help identify and eliminate negative patterns of thought that may bring about the panic attacks.
Fortunately there are alternative Natural therapies such as “Panic Away” which have become very popular in recent years. Panic Away utilizes the “one-method” system. This teaches you how to best cope with symptoms of an attack prior to it happening. This also ensures that there are no subsequent panic attacks. The Panic Away technique is one of the most widely used self-help anxiety and panic attack cures available today. The technique is used without the need for drugs or hypnosis. Unlike many other treatments that merely mask the symptoms, this method addresses the root of the condition and instructs you how to permanently prevent panic attacks in the future.
As with any medical condition, it’s key to not be embarrassed and to seek help as well as consult your physician. Panic attacks will no longer control you. Fortunately for sufferers, there is safe, and simple method that can help you lead a more enjoyable productive life.
Get rid of your panic attacks forever! Click Here to learn more about panic attack heart symptoms and effective treatment.
