How to gain relief from Panic Attacks!

Friday, February 09, 2007

Leading a Normal life even though you have panic attacks

If you have ever experienced a panic attack, even a little one, you probably understand how it can be difficult for those who frequently experience panic attacks to lead normal lives. They are characterized by moments of extreme fear or panic, usually for an unexplained reason, that can make a person sick. Symptoms of panic attacks include shortness of breath, pains in the chest area, numbness in limbs, dizziness when sitting and/or standing, and times of extreme anxiety. These symptoms are brought on for a number of reasons, individual to different cases of panic disorders and different people.
With proper medication, counseling, and even behavioral therapy it is possible to lead a perfectly normal life, even if you do suffer from panic attacks, however frequent or seldom may they be. For those who have little or no control over their disorders, or who have not yet been diagnosed with a panic disorder may find it difficult to concentrate on things, to make friends, and to function properly at work. With effective treatment and understanding of your condition, however, you can avoid being one of these cases. People who have panic attacks are normal people; the only difference between panic attack sufferers and anybody else in the world is that their bodies and their brains react in different ways to fear. The body has a natural flight reaction to fear; your natural inclination in danger is to flee, or cower. Humans are not naturally brave beings at all. Panic attacks are just an exaggeration of fears that are brought on every day, by small things. They create an unnecessary amount of stress that can be avoided with proper therapy and medication.
With effective treatment, panic attack sufferers can drastically reduce or even eliminate the number of panic attacks they suffer each year, leading to a happier, healthier, and certainly more successful lifestyle. Panic disorder affects almost 20 million Americans every year; many of the people you deal with each day suffer from panic attacks in the privacy of their own homes, but can you tell? Probably not. The environment around you is proof evident that many people in the world have panic attacks, but they have their problem under control enough to where they are able to lead perfectly normal existences. Although panic disorders are not completely curable, advances in medication and therapy, not to mention public awareness, have helped to ensure that people are still able to successfully function in society, despite their problem
If you have panic attacks or have been diagnosed with a panic disorder, just remember that you are not alone and there is help out there. Talk to someone you can trust about the feelings you are having, and you may be surprised to find out the different ways you can go about molding your thoughts to ensure that you lead a normal existence, just like you deserve. Take control of your illness, and take control of your life.

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Tuesday, January 23, 2007

What is Anxiety and do I have it ?

What Is Anxiety And Do I Have It?
Of course, everyone has anxiety. Anxiety is a vague word meaning any one of several unpleasant emotions, usually involving the anticipation of some misfortune to come. Stress, as well legitimate worries about every day live, bring about anxiety.
However, there is a difference between regular anxiety and an anxiety disorder. Whereas anxiety is simply a negative emotion, an anxiety disorder involves chronic anxiety, usually approaching extreme levels. Such extreme levels might see an otherwise healthy and normal person become suddenly and irrationally afraid of something, or nervous and irritable, or may cause mild to severe panic attacks. Panic attacks are simply a peak of anxiety and do not necessarily mean a person is developing a panic disorder, though it is a probability.
A person may also develop an unnatural fear of public places, other people or of specific phobias. They may constantly feel the need to escape, and feel quite agitated if they feel they are trapped in a situation. This is linked to agoraphobia, once of many types of anxiety related phobias that can develop.
Anxiety disorders can easily lead to physical symptoms as well as mental and emotional ones. People suffering from chronic and intense anxiety may also experience nausea, trembling, chills, and light headedness. In addition, severe symptoms like chest pains, numbness and a shortness of breath might appear, thus scaring someone into believing they are having a heart attack or even dying.
What causes an anxiety disorder to develop? Anxiety, of course but from what source? It could due to external surroundings; stress and difficult living situations can be traumatic and can cause a person to feel very anxious throughout the day for a long period of time. There is also evidence that genetics can cause anxiety disorder to be inherited.
If you feel that you may have an anxiety disorder then there is cause for concern—the fact that you feel anxious enough to question your wellbeing, means either you are under a lot of stress or feel you may be developing an unnatural fear or reluctance in every day life. The best thing to do is to consult a family physician. He or she will give you a physical examination and rule out any physical factors that might be bringing on your symptoms. If there's no problem there then the doctor could refer you to a mental health specialist who will conduct a further evaluation.
Traditional medication may be recommended, or psychotherapy could be suggested as an alternative. One mistake people make is to put off going for an examination because they don't want to be put on medication. Understandably, since there are many risks involved in potentially addictive antidepressants and anti-anxiety pills, not to mention the rising cost of pharmaceutical drugs. However, the doctor will work with you and may be willing to treat the problem without medication. Aside from herbal remedies or self-help techniques psychotherapy has proven successful in many cases.
Avoidance is another symptom of anxiety disorder. But avoiding a professional examination may be too much of a risk to take, considering that you’re mental and physical health could be at stake.

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