Panic attacks can strike almost any individual at any time of the day and they can be most disturbing to those around, as a panic attack generally appears almost like a heart attack or seizures. This explains why victims of a panic attack are so often rushed to emergency medical centers.
A panic attack is actually a physiological response to a sudden heightened sense of fear or anxiety. The object towards which these feelings of fear and anxiety are directed may be physical, like a cut or bruise, or an event like the fear of a plane crash, the fear of death or the fear of a panic attack itself. Panic attacks are actually a fairly common condition that tends to affect more women than men. While most people experience just one or two panic attacks in times of stress, there are many who do suffer from full blown panic disorders, experiencing panic attacks few times a week, or even as often as on a daily basis.
A panic attack, as you would be all too familiar with, is a sudden outburst of fear and anxiety that overwhelms you without any warning whatsoever, leaving you completely overwhelmed and powerless. The feeling of being stressed out pales in comparison to this. A racing heartbeat or palpitations and breathlessness are possibly among the most common features of a panic attack, but there are many others like chest pains, hot flashes, shivers, nausea, and many others. A panic attack also has absolutely no rationale behind it. In other words the overwhelming fear and anxiety that takes over does not have any basis in reality or rationale and logic.
Panic attacks can be treated quite effectively without relying on any pharmaceutical medications. Medications only dull the symptoms but do not cure the problem. Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT is a form of therapy that has been found to be very effective and it is an investigative therapy that examines and identifies situations and triggers and accordingly the therapist comes up with coping mechanisms and strategies that enable you to combat the problem yourself and at your own pace. It also works to improve your sense of control and reduce the sense of helplessness, typical of a panic attack.
Relaxation techniques are the next most important area of focus. Meditation, yoga, deep breathing, and other relaxing activities can help significantly. Light exercise like aerobics or walking is also beneficial. Of all of these, yoga is possibly the best as it includes elements of all. It enhances physical fitness, it encourages mental prowess and abilities, require breath control and breathing exercises, and also includes meditation. The tools that yoga provides you with therefore equip you to deal with practically any situation.
In addition to these practices other fields of alternative medicine like aromatherapy, herbal medicine, and ayurveda have also shown some benefits, although limited when compared to yoga or cognitive behavioral therapy.
answered by S D