When panic attacks

Have you had a panic attack?

Studies show that every person may experience one in his lifetime.

According to Anxiety Panic Hub (http://www.panic attacks.com.au), panic attack’s symptoms are so disturbing, you may think you are having a stroke or a heart attack: Palpitations, sweating, trembling or shaking, sensations of shortness of breath or smothering, feeling of choking, chest pain or discomfort, nausea or abdominal distress, dizziness or lightheadedness, numbness, fear of losing control or going crazy, fear of dying, and chills or hot flushes.

Research reveals that many people with panic disorder experience various sensations moving through their body – either before or during the actual panic attack. These sensations can change from one attack to the next, which only adds to the confusion people feel. These sensations can include electric current, hot prickly sensation, intense heat or burning pain, creeping sensation, wave-like motion of energy, vibrations, white hot or ice cold sensation, ants crawling sensation over the body.

These attacks are genderless, spontaneous and come without any apparent warning, day or night, with no regard for what the person is doing. Many people report that panic attacks happen when they are relatively calm or relaxed. And since it is not understood, it breeds fear.

"I was watching TV when I felt a tingling sensation in my arm and the back of my neck," says Pat, 30. "I was very tired and I wanted to rest but I was anxious and my heart was racing. Then it became hard to breathe! I thought I was going to die! But how could this be? I was too young to have a heart attack. I called my husband and he rushed me to the E.R. The doctor took all my vital signs and they were normal. He informed us that it was a panic attack. I was so puzzled because I wan’t even in a panic before it hit."

In fact, a 1993 study on the uncued/spontaneous panic attack shows that 78 percent of panic disorder participants report experiencing a panic attack when relatively at ease. 69 percent of panic disorder participants report they experience a panic attack while going to sleep and 86 percent report that the panic attack wakes them from sleep at night.

There are three theories as to what causes panic attacks.

The biological theory includes the genetic predisposition in panic disorder. This means that you could have inherited it or you have a physiological imbalance with your brain chemistry – where the hormones like dopamine and neuro-transmitters like serotonin are not in sync.

The behavioral theory sees the cause as learned behavior, including our negative thought patterns. There is no doubt we "learn" to become afraid of our panic attacks ... and we learn very very quickly! We become afraid, very afraid. Each fear feeding on each other and impacting severely on our lives. Thus, our fear of panic cripples us.

The psychodynamic theory looks at childhood issues as being the cause. While not everyone with an anxiety disorder has a history of childhood abuse, many people do. And the childhood abuse issues do need to be taken into account.

Childhood issues also play a role in people who don’t have a history of childhood abuse. As children, we all learned from a very early age that we needed to become, "a good nice person." To become the good nice person, we needed to stop the development of who we could have been, and became who we thought we should be. The end results are our low self-esteem, fear that we will be abandoned, that people don’t love or like us, feelings of intense loneliness and helplessness. Being who we think we should be creates enormous personal stress as we try to be perfect in every area of our life, including our inability to say no even when we want and need to. Over time, something’s got to give and the development of our anxiety disorder begins.

Seek Treatment

We are what we think. And the way we think when we have an anxiety disorder only perpetuates the disorder. Cognitive therapy assists us in seeing the damage our thoughts cause.

Cognitive behavioural therapy is a series of strategies specifically targeted to an individual’s disorder. These can include cognitive therapy (how you learned to be afraid and how to unlearn it), relaxation (meditation), breathing techniques.

Working with a cognitive therapist can be extremely empowering as we learn to take control over our thought patterns, instead of our thought patterns controlling us. Armed with our cognitive skills, we can then go back to situations and/or places we have avoided and practice our cognitive skills.

Drugs And Medication

First, you have to be diagnosed by a competent doctor. The most common drugs prescribed are minor tranquilizers and anti-anxiety pills. It takes a while for some drugs to kick in so be patient. Check with a psychiatrist regarding prescription drugs.

"I keep my anti-anxiety drug in my bag all the time. It’s like my security blanket. Sometimes I don’t take it when there is no attack. But my doctor insists that I take it daily as prescribed. Now, I am being a good patient and I take it as ordered. I feel more confident now. The attacks have been controlled. Even if I am sleepy most of the time, it’s still better than an attack," says Sherlyn, mother of two.

Seek Someone Who Understands

Sometimes the best therapy for a panic attack is someone to understand what you are going through. Many well-meaning friends and relatives try to cheer you up (and fail) by asking you the reason for the panic. "What they don’t understand is that there may be no reason for the panic. It just creeps up on you anytime. How can you explain that? And even if I do, they give you strange looks, like I may be out of my mind," laments Jackie, 40, mother of four.

Maybe you can set up a support group every month, just to feel that you are not alone. (E-mail me at mrcuenca@yahoo.com for links to others with panic attacks that might want to set up a chat room/message board.)

Lifestyle Change

Even if there may be no reason to feel anxious, try to change the fast-paced lifestyle that you lead. Learn to say no. Learn not to accommodate everyone and everything. Keeping yourself intact is better than being liked.

Treat yourself out to weekly timeouts – no kids, no husband, no work, no roles. A daily 30-minute cardio-vascular exercise releases dopamine – feel-good hormones that stave anxiety away. Or spend the day in a spa or walk leisurely through a mall or museum. Watch a movie, go to the beach or the mountains. If the panic has taught you to be fearful when alone, go with a friend or a spouse.

"It’s very hard to go easy myself when I am having an episode of panic. I just want to lock myself in the room and cry it out but I have work, kids, a whole list of errands to run. Once, I really couldn’t handle it all, I went for a brisk walk. I think the morning air and sunshine relieved me a bit. But my body told me to take it easy for the rest of the day, and so I took the day off and slept. I felt better by late afternoon," says Joey, 39, financial analyst. "Better to take a leave than lose my mind!"

Another friend, Michelle, in her 30’s, says: "When all else fails, pray!" That’s what my mom, who has anxiety disorder, tells me all the time. At one point, she was hearing Mass twice a day. Maybe the meditation and spiritual purpose give her solace from this excruciating fear. I have an aunt who has a depressive-anxiety condition, too. I guess I have it, too – but milder. So I went to see a doctor for precautions and medications."

And when the panic attack comes, nevertheless, know that it will pass. No more heroics. Take deep and slow breaths and put your head to your knees, cover your ears or eyes and wait it out. Don’t be ashamed of your medication. The only thing to fear is fear itself.