How to Treat Your Anxiety and Panic Attacks

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Article Title:

How to Treat Your Anxiety and Panic Attacks

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Next to Depression, one of the most common disorders which

affects an estimated 2.4 million people in America alone, is

anxiety disorder. Anxiety can manifest as a generalized

anxiety, panic attacks, social anxiety and agoraphobia.

Anxiety disorder can be mild or so totally disabling that

the person is confined to her or his home. All forms of

anxiety can be extremely frightening to those who experience

it frequently, but many individuals have found comfort in

the fact that anxiety disorders can be treated.

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Distribution Date and Time: 2010-12-16 10:30:00

Written By: Dr Jeannette Kavanagh

Copyright: 2010

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How to Treat Your Anxiety and Panic Attacks

Copyright © 2010 Dr Jeannette Kavanagh

Calming Words

http://www.calmingwords.com/

Next to Depression, one of the most common disorders which

affects an estimated 2.4 million people in America alone, is

anxiety disorder. Anxiety can manifest as a generalized anxiety,

panic attacks, social anxiety and agoraphobia. Anxiety disorder

can be mild or so totally disabling that the person is confined

to her or his home. All forms of anxiety can be extremely

frightening to those who experience it frequently, but many

individuals have found comfort in the fact that anxiety disorders

can be treated.

What are Panic Attacks?

Panic attacks are a sudden flow of overwhelming anxiety and fear,

sometimes amounting to terror, which takes over the individual's

body. During a panic attack, the individual will experience a

pounding heart rate, difficulty to breathing and may also

experience dizziness and a feeling of nausea. In some cases, the

person having an attack may also experience a feeling that they

are going crazy or even dying. If left untreated, these episodes

of panic can result in panic disorder and other conditions which

can make it extremely difficult for the individual to enjoy

everyday life. However, effective treatment is available, and as

with other conditions, the sooner you seek treatment, the better.

In most cases, an episode of panic will strike out of the blue,

without any warning. Often, there seems to be no reason for the

panic attacks. They can occur at times where you're feeling

relaxed or even asleep. For many people who experience anxiety,

an attack will commonly occur when you are away from home as this

is when you will feel less safe and secure. Symptoms can present

abruptly and can last for up to thirty minutes. A typical attack

of panic fuelled by adrenaline will usually see the symptoms

reach their full potential within ten minutes.

Symptoms Of A Panic Episode

The main symptoms are:

* Shortness of breath

* Heart palpitations (often the person will think they're

experiencing a heart attack)

* Sweating, Nausea, Trembling/shaking

* A feeling of being detached from your body/ out of body

experience; and

* A fear or feeling that you are dying

Someone who has experienced one or two panic attacks will

continue to live their life without any further attacks. However,

in other cases, people find that through their panic attacks they

have entered what we call the panic attack cycle. That cycle

includes:

* Anticipating, expecting that a particular place or activity

will lead to an attack because it has in the past;

* Worry which accompanies that anticipation. The worry or fear

is about experiencing another attack; and

* Not surprisingly, the anticipation brings on the feelings of

panic and the person wants to escape that intense

adrenaline-fuelled fear.

* After escaping, or sometimes just avoiding, the person feels

stupid and blames herself/himself for being 'crazy'.

* Soon merely thinking about things that have caused an episode

of panic in the past is enough to generate those feelings.

Avoidance becomes the way to cope because the person is afraid of

feeling such out-of-control terror.

Agoraphobia

When someone allows that fear of the next attack of fear to take

hold, they can develop agoraphobia which means fear of the

marketplace, or intense fear about being away from home. People

with agoraphobia fear having a panic attack in places where

they've had them in the past and where they feel it's difficult

to escape the situation. Places such as concert halls, Malls,

sports stadiums, going to school meetings, attending lectures at

College - these can all trigger fear. It is for this reason that

people with agoraphobia choose to remain at home as much as

possible. Home is where they feel most safe.

However frightening it may be for someone to experience any of

these conditions, there is security in knowing that they can be

treated. The most effective treatment is called Cognitive

Behavior Therapy (CBT). It works by focusing on the thinking

patterns which trigger an anxiety and panic attacks. This helps

the individual to look at their fears more closely, and changing

their reaction to those thoughts.

If you currently suffer from anxiety or panic attacks, you are

not alone. Nor are panic attacks something you have to endure for

the rest of your life. There are many proven ways to treat all

forms of anxiety disorder. By learning about the condition itself

and the reasons why you experience the panic attacks, you'll be

on the journey out of anxiety and panic attacks back to a normal

life once again.

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Dr Jeannette Kavanagh has a counseling and coaching Practice in

Melbourne Australia, to help people find their unique solutions

to anxiety and panic attacks. For over two decades, Jeannette has

helped thousands of people overcome anxiety and panic attacks.

Visit her website http://www.calmingwords.com/ to sign up here

for a FREE MP3 (http://www.calmingwords.com/relax_on_cue.html)

" Relax on Cue " .