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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Sunday, February 04, 2007

The Lesser-Known Forms of Anxiety manifestation.

The most common forms of anxiety disorders are general anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia and other phobic disorder*, panic disorder and separation anxiety disorder. These disorders are all attributable to past traumatic events or genetics, as most anxiety disorders are. Very uncommon is it that anxiety problems appear for no apparent reason whatever, though some cases seem to describe it.
On the other hand, the following forms of anxiety are infrequently named as a disorder, because they're common concerns that most people face at some time or another during their lives This is not to say that a disorder cannot develop from such anxieties, because a phobia can be of practically anything object or situation.
Existential Anxiety: This type of anxiety is akin to spirituality and mortality, which is something everyone eventually faces. The father of psychotherapy, Sigmund Freud termed this type of worry as the “trauma of nonbeing.” When a person comes to the realization that they are not immortal and will die someday this can fill them with great anxiety—particularly if they have ignored such realistic thoughts for a long period. Religion, Freud believed, becomes a coping mechanism to put away this unwholesome fear of death. The person then redefines death as merely a stage in existence, with an immortal soul being the next stage—so life will continue in some way, the anxiety ceases to be so intense. Obviously, it would be easy for a person to develop obsessive-compulsive disorder along with this existential form of anxiety. This form of anxiety can be somewhat harmless and inspire creativity; but it can also be dangerous if a person begins to have strong suicidal urges due to feelings of hopelessness.
Boredom Anxiety: This form of anxiety is a good deal like it sounds—as from boredom in life, or a lack of meaning (alike to existential anxiety) a person may become bored of their present living situation. They learn to create and develop anxieties for no apparent reason other than to have something to do. The answer to treating this form of anxiety is obviously a form of tough love, which would be to separate the sufferer from the stressful distractions and try to find happier or more productive life.
Test and Math Anxiety: There appears to be a fear of tests and a fear of math that can develop in students. This is natural since so much pressure is exerted upon students to succeed in academic achievements. They may start to feel, especially at very young ages, that academic failure is associated with self worth, or that low grades will merit public embarrassment. These bouts with anxiety can also lead to physical problems such as nausea, headaches, and dizzy spells. Such an anxiety attacks over test outcomes actually hinders the ability of a student to achieve satisfactory results in the taking of an exam. When the reality is they are quite capable of passing the exam. In some circles, there is a debate as to whether test anxiety is an entity onto itself or just another form agoraphobia.
All forms of anxiety can lead to serious anxiety disorders and eventually emotional and physical problems. It is best to face up to the source of anxiety, even with the use of professional evaluation if necessary; just ignoring the symptoms will lead to greater long-term anxiety related problems.

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