|
Anxiety and Panic Attacks Symptoms of a Panic Attack The person usually develops a severe sense of fear that peaks within ten minutes. During this period, four or more of the following symptoms occur:
Causes of panic attacks The fight or flight response is a natural reaction to a perceived threat. It is present in humans and animals alike. When triggered, hormones are released into the bloodstream to enable a person to either fight (defend oneself) or fly (run away) from a potentially dangerous situation. The effects of the fight or flight response include an increase in the heart rate to pump blood faster to the brain; improved senses for better awareness of potential dangers and altered breathing patterns to speed up the hormonal distribution process. Once triggered, the brain creates a template for panic attacks causing the panic conditioned response to fire off inappropriately and ever more frequently. Other factors that encourage panic attacks are lifestyle, thinking style, eating habits, consumption of alcohol, stress and living conditions. Treatment of panic attacks Much research has been conducted on various forms of therapy for panic attacks. Statistics have shown that the most effective form of treatment is hypnotherapy with Cognitive-behaviour therapy. Cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT) involves a thorough appraisal of the lifestyle of the individual as well as an assessment of the panic attacks and its triggers. Tasks may be assigned such as keeping a diary of when the attacks occur, the circumstances and intensity. Once obtained, this information gives a clear indication of physiological triggers such as excessive caffeine intake or allergies to certain pharmaceuticals and psychological triggers including stress and situations. Any prevalent distorted thinking patterns (fearful thoughts causing anxiety before the attack has started) also become evident. Armed with this knowledge, the therapist can begin the next stage of prevention and cure. Clinical hypnosis can also be used to discover initial and undiagnosed triggers as and de-condition the fear aspect of the panic attacks as well as creating a new healthy mental template. Therapy is driven by the needs of the individual; their circumstances and situation so that the skills learned and adopted can continue after the therapeutic process is complete thereby empowering the client to regain the control of their own life. |
