Understanding Anxiety Attacks

Almost everyone suffers from an anxiety attack at some point in life. Whether it’s a fear of failing at an important task or a concern that an animal or some other force will cause harm, the mind and body go into synch and actual physical symptoms tend to manifest themselves. For some people, however, normal fear becomes paralyzing and persistent and actual full-blown anxiety attacks become almost a way of life.

Understanding what anxiety attacks are, how they present and what can be done about them can help people around an anxiety sufferer better grasp what a friend of loved one is going through. It can also help the person who suffers from the attacks realize the need to seek out effective treatments before anxiety waylays life.

Anxiety attacks are very similar to the mental/physical reactions that happen in the fight or flight phenomena. The mind perceives a threat and the body reacts. The difference between a “normal” attack and an abnormal situation generally involves the perceived threat. In the case of anxiety disorders, the “danger” can be quite mundane, but not always. What does happen here is that threats are perceived when they are not really present, or the reaction is out of proportion to the situation. For example, a person who has an extreme fear of public speaking isn’t really in danger, but his or her mind might think so; therefore, the body reacts.

In most cases, anxiety attacks have very intense, fast onsets. They are typically characterized by the following symptoms:

• Intense feelings of fear and danger
• Chest pains, heart palpitations, sweating, trembling and other physical symptoms
• A feeling of depersonalization or a surreal atmosphere
• A strong sense of doom and fear of death
• Lack of breath
• Hot flashes or chills

The unfortunate thing about anxiety attacks is that their symptoms often mimic other serious health conditions. This can lead to false diagnosis and even fuel the fears that death is imminent. When anxiety attacks are properly diagnosed, people generally are treated with a combination of medications and therapy to help them regain control of their lives.

Anxiety attacks can have a one-time presentation or they might occur on a repetitive basis. In the case of the latter, therapy is almost always advised as repetition is generally a sign of a more serious anxiety disorder.

Anxiety attacks are very real manifestations of fear. They can actually be quite normal reactions to a serious situation, or they might present out of irrational fear. If they are repetitive, help generally is required to combat and overcome them and the cause.

Curing Panic Attacks

Curing panic attacks is possible if you learn ways to control your anxiety. Panic attacks are made up of two types of symptoms, psychological and physical. When curing panic attacks you will have to focus on both types of symptoms to be successful.

The psychological symptoms you experience may be nervousness, restlessness, feeling scared, and terror, feeling like you are going to die or go insane. It may also spark feelings you had the last time you were confronted with an anxiety provoking situation. This feeds off each other and you will then begin to feel physical symptoms. Your heart will begin to race and you may experience chest pain. Stomach upset, diarrhea, and headaches are common. Jitters, twitches and other involuntary movements may be experienced. You may feel hot flashes, chills or feel pins and needles in your hands and feet. You may feel like you are having a heart attack or seizure. There are ways you can find relief from these symptoms by curing panic attacks.

Curing panic attacks starts with medication to stabilize your physical symptoms and anxiety. Once you are able to think clearly with the medication you will be able to learn effective ways to deal with situations so that when you start to wean yourself off the medication you will know how to effectively deal with anxiety that usually leads to panic attacks.

There are many coping skills you can learn to help with your symptoms. The most important thing to do is learn ways to keep your anxiety at a level where your body doesn’t begin to react and start to experience the physical symptoms.

Breathing
When you are about to approach an anxiety provoking situation or if you are already in one you can try deep breathing. Focusing on breathing and help your body take in oxygen. Start breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth. Do this 10 times before you take a break. If you need to, repeat it as many times as you feel necessary. Just makes sure you take breaks in between each deep breathing session.

Count Down From 100
Counting will help take your mind off the situation and help your body come down from the anxiety level you have already reached. Counting down from 100 producing a calming effect by making your mind feel like you are taking down the worry or fear down one level each time you count down. It will take some time to count down which will give you a break and be able to get a handle on the situation.

Imagery
Close your eyes if possible and think about yourself in another place that does not provoke anxiety. This could be the beach or sitting by a lake, whatever it is that makes you feel at peace. This will trick your mind to thinking you are in a safe place rather than dealing with the stressful situation you are currently experiencing.

Change Your Cognitions:
Learn ways to change the way you think. If you think something is scary than it will cause anxiety or panic. Changing the way you look at situations will change the way you react to them.
Curing panic attacks will be a difficult and long process. This will not work in one day and it will take a lot of work. But if you work on your anxiety it will be possible to live life without panic attacks.

The Causes of Anxiety Attacks

Anxiety attacks can be frustrating and can prevent you from doing the things you enjoy doing and have to do each day. Knowing the causes of anxiety attacks can help you regain control of your anxiety and reduce the number of attacks you experience. The causes of anxiety attacks can result from many situations and objects.

All of us find ourselves in anxiety provoking situations one time or another. It may be speaking in front of a group, going in for a job interview or meeting new people. Those with anxiety attacks feel the anxiety but their anxiety is intensified. They begin to feel uncontrollable anxiety as well as some physical symptoms that make staying in the situation impossible. Knowing the cause of anxiety attacks can help you avoid and deal with the situations in a better way.

Some causes of anxiety attacks have to do with social anxiety. This has to do with when you approach someone or a group. You may fear that they will think negatively about you or you will say the wrong thing. You also may worry that you will not be able follow through if you are speaking in front of a group when giving a speech or presentation.

Another cause of anxiety attacks has to do with objects. Bridges are a common feared object that many experience anxiety over. This may be a result of hearing about a tragedy on a bridge or experiencing something on the bridge. Anxiety attacks having to do with objects are difficult to work with but it is possible to break this fear, worry and anxiety that you feel about the object. You will need to work with a therapist to learn ways to overcome your fear.

You may experience anxiety over situations that haven’t happened because just thinking that the situation could happen is enough to trigger an attack. This cause of anxiety attacks has to do with cognitions and your brain processes. By working with a therapist, you will be able to learn ways to change your cognitions so that you do not continue to think of situations that do not exist. Changing your thinking is possible and there are effective skills you can use to stop your mind from imagining the worst.

If you are experiencing anxiety attacks without knowing where the anxiety is coming from then figuring out the cause of anxiety attacks can be difficult. You may feel good one day and feel anxious the next day without anything new happening or being in an anxiety provoking situation. In this case, you will need to speak to your doctor to discuss your physical symptoms of your attacks. There is medication to help with your physical symptoms as well as your anxiety.A therapist can help in this situation by teaching you ways to handle the days when you feel as though anxiety has hit you for no apparent reason. The therapist may even be able to help you find a reason for the anxiety.

There can be many reasons for your anxiety attacks. Figuring the causes can help you work on them. Until you can identify what is causing you fear, worry and panic you won’t be able to free yourself from these attacks. Working with your healthcare professional is the best way to do this.