Panic Attack Help

Panic Attacks Help - What are panic attacks

In order to find out how to treat anxiety and panic attacks it seemed to me that I should find out as much about what they actually were. panic attacks are also known as anxiety attacks and that is probably a better term for them as it is the feeling of a high state of anxiety that brings on the reactions. That anxiety is sometimes brought on by things you recognize such as public speaking and sometimes it is brought on by nothing you can easily recognize, either way the results are debilitating and socially demoralizing. It is essential that you understand that panic attacks help is available and the condition is completely treatable without drugs. So to better understand exactly what panic attacks are, let's take a closer look at what anxiety is and what actually causes it.

Anxiety is a very basic emotion and is embedded into mankind's psychological makeup. It stems back to the days when mankind first roamed the earth and it seems it was built into us at a very basic level as a survival tool. You see when we as a species panic, we release adrenaline from the adrenal glands which are small glands located just above the kidneys. This adrenaline kicks in with the sole purpose of keeping you alert and ready to take action, which way back at the dawn of time was to either attack something or run away from it - Fight or Flight. Unfortunately although the adrenaline kicks in immediately, it takes time for it to dissipate and leave your system, which is why we experience all of the heart rushing emotions that we get. Furthermore if we let it run riot, our very creative minds cause us to panic even more, resulting in another adrenaline rush and so it goes on. Now back at the beginning of mankind's history when you were running around in a fur loin cloth, you probably would just have clubbed someone and that would be the end of it, however, we have evolved so we must look at other ways to overcome anxiety and turn it into something useful.

When one is undergoing a panic attack the anxiety levels can be so acute that you really do think that there is something physically wrong with you. The symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks are very real and include blurred vision, palpitations, tightness of the chest, shortness of breath and much more and if you try explaining this to someone who has never experienced it they will never be able to understand. As I say, the symptoms are all very real but it is important to understand that the condition is not dangerous and nobody has ever died from anxiety. Ok long term anxiety can cause a build-up of stress which in turn can lead to other physical conditions, but I repeat nobody has died from anxiety caused directly from a panic attack. It is important therefore to remember this when you first experience the onset of a panic attack, tell yourself that you understand what is happening and that although everything feels real, it will pass and it will not harm you. Also remind yourself that you are not alone with this condition and that thousands of people have sought panic attacks help and successfully brought it under control - you can too.

The sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Now let's begin here by saying outright that you do not need to understand loads of scientific jargon to be able to learn to manage panic attacks. It is however useful to understand some basics, just so that you know what is going on when these attacks occur. Often by thinking about what's happening to you in a calculating, analytical way can help you overcome anxiety by focusing your mind, thereby not letting it wonder off on to something more harmful. If we go back to our distant caveman relative, he had things fairly simple and his choices were normally very basic revolving around staying alive or dying. So he was (and you still are) set up in such a way that when he was in any kind of danger the brain would send signals to a section of his nervous system instructing it to pump up the body for action and once the threat was over to return the body back to relative calm. Obviously in those days the threat would more than likely come from a sabre tooth tiger rather than a shopping mall, but once it kicked in the effect was just as real.

The sympathetic nervous system is the one that gets us pumped up in the first place and it is that which is in operation when your panic attack happens. Something will trigger it off (often without you even realizing what) and your sympathetic nervous system kicks in and all of the symptoms start. After some time - depending on how long the panic attack lasts - the parasympathetic nervous system is called into action and starts its job of calming your system down and returning your body to a normal state of relaxed awareness.

Now here is a very important thing to remember, the parasympathetic nervous system has to kick in at some stage. It simply cannot allow your body to be in a nervous anxious state for a lengthy period of time and it is just one of the amazing protection systems that your body has to ensure that you survive. Remember in the real world of survival the sympathetic system kicks in when your brain realizes you are in danger and once your parasympathetic system comes to realize that the danger has passed would do its job of calming you down. When the danger is perceived as opposed to real, as is generally the case in a panic attack, it still kicks in when it feels the danger is over and the period of time between the two is how long the panic attack lasts. Your over-active imagination may do it's best to convince you that there is something to dread in order to keep your sympathetic system going, but sooner or later your body will recognize that there is no real dread and you will calm down.

It is clear therefore that our goal when coping with panic attacks is to get ourselves into the state of mind where the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in sooner rather than later or preferably immediately a panic attack starts.

One of the major symptoms of panic attacks is respiratory problems, which can come in the form of shortness of breath or hyperventilation. When this happens we try to control our breathing often resulting in the problem becoming worse rather than better as the body is designed to control your breath automatically without your conscious mind getting in the way.

I know that in the past when I experienced panic attacks, which incidentally I did on a regular basis, my breathing got so bad that I honestly thought that my body was giving up and that I was in danger of passing out. At this stage I remember I used to try and take control and literally tell my body when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Of course this would not give my body the correct natural levels of oxygen it needed, which in turn made my breathing poorer resulting in an increased level of anxiety and well you know the rest. It was only when I started looking in earnest for genuine panic attacks help that I learned a technique that allowed my body to do what it does best and that is to run everything on autopilot. After that I was able to quickly calm down and let the natural process that the parasympathetic system employs kick in.

Hope this helps

Rob

My name is Rob Sanderson and some time back I experienced what I thought at first was a mild heart attack, but what in fact turned out to be an extreme panic attack. Determined not to go on medication I searched high and low for help. I found it - read more on my blog

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