Wednesday, February 10, 2010

What Is A Panic Attack And How To Cure Panic Attacks

By Alex Lopez

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.

Recurring attacks are usually triggered when the person has repeatedly experienced situations that create fear and panic. Although panic attacks are mistakenly considered innocuous, they have a huge impact on the psychological, emotional and physical well-being of a person.

Who are prone to panic attacks? About 10% of the people have been confirmed with panic disorder, not counting cases that have not been reported. Females and young individuals are twice at risk with these attacks, than adult males. This problem can also be passed down through the genes.

How will I know whether I am having a panic attack? Some symptoms and signs can verify the occurrence of the attack. Increasing or irregular heart beat, chest pain, stiff muscles, excessive sweating, upset 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.

What would be the best course of action, when in the grip of an attack? The height of a panic attack lasts approximately 10 minutes, and in very rare cases goes beyond thirty minutes. During the attack you will display the symptoms mentioned above, and if you observe all of them are connected to the rate of your heart beat.

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.

Do this until you are calm, then slowly move around a bit. There are people who find breathing into a bag effective. This increases the amount of carbon dioxide in the body which is needed to balance the level of acid in the blood when disturbed by fast breathing.

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.

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