Panic treatments – Get peace and a piece of your mind back

Anxiety and panic disorder has a sizeable chunk of the global population in its clutches. Acute ‘fight or flight’ type situations arise in the patient’s body without a valid reason causing adrenaline release. The hormone in turn causes the various symptoms associated with nervous tension, viz, palpitation, sweating, trembling limbs, disassociation and nausea.

These symptoms occur in bouts, leaving behind a physically and mentally drained patient. Indeed, it is like losing a piece of your mind after every attack.

Panic treatments for such patients is a must and must be made available to the sufferer.

Many a time, sheer ignorance about the availability of anxiety disorder treatments has caused patients to go untreated. Sometimes, patients tend to associate their trouble with mental ailments, and believing themselves to be unstable in the mind, try to hide their symptoms, thereby worsening them.

All this is a strict no-no from the therapist’s point of view. Panic treatments are out of their shrouds, and panic attack is a fully treatable disorder without any stigmas or taboos attached.

The first step towards anxiety disorder treatment is meeting with a trusted psychotherapist – it is this person who would first confirm whether you are a patient of anxiety disorder or not.

If diagnosed as a disorder-patient, he would prescribe the therapy. Various possible therapies may be:

•    Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy (CBT) – this is the most important part of anxiety disorder treatment. Abe Lincoln said, ‘People are as happy as they decide to be.’ This is very true. Anxiety, Happiness, Peace – these are all emotions and the seat of the emotion is the cerebrum. If one makes a strong decision to control his thoughts, one may. This is the theme on which CBT works. The psychotherapist motivates the patient to think positively and logically and if possible, to come up with a reason for his anxiety. If not, then the patient is given chants or mantras to recite repetitively as he senses the onset of a panic attack. For example, he is made to repeat over and over again ‘I shall not panic, I shall stay cool.’ If the patient does so with utter conviction, he succeeds in controlling his body’s reactions. Not to forget, mind is above body. It has got immense power. Channelize it properly to help yourself.
•    Biofeedback – the patient’s body is keyed in with several small, portable appliances that can measure clearly some of his physiological activities. The patient can, for example, see how his heartbeats, blood pressure or skin temperature vary with his mood. The visualization of the effect of panicky thoughts on his body has a psychological imprint on the patient. He begins to make a conscious effort to control his body’s parameters, as well as his thoughts. Continued practice has actually shifted partial control of these functions from involuntary to voluntary in some subjects
•    Exposure Therapy – patients having a history of severe trauma – like fire, drowning, road accidents, associate the causative agent with terror. Even normal manifestations of the fear factor can throw them into panic. The treatment to this condition may be brought about by employing the Exposure Therapy. The patient is exposed to his fear factor, made to see it face-to-face, under controlled surroundings and in the presence of a responsible therapist. Continuous facing of the fear gradually decreases its effect on the mind and in due time the patient stands cured.

Other advice:
•    Laughter therapy – bust out stress, join laughter clubs or watch more comedy shows
•    Deep sleep – have the regular eight hours or more
•    Hobby therapy – release your stress with your favourite pastime
•    Pet therapy – spend time with pets – they absorb negativity from you
•    Diet control – cut caffeine, avoid drug abuse

Apart from every other thing, anxiety disorder medication is also available. Most of these belong to the Benzodiazepine group that includes drugs like alprazolam, bromazepam, chlordiazepoxide, clonazepam, clorazepate, diazepam, lorazepam, medazepam, nordazepam, oxazepam and prazepam.
However, the abuse potential of these tranquilizers is high and they also give rise to withdrawal symptoms if their ingestion is ceased abruptly.
Other groups include Buspirone and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors.

Anxiety disorder medication is preferably not used as the sole treatment procedure – it is there in conjunction with other processes. However, sometimes during acute panic attacks, they must be used exclusively. Also, if the cause of anxiety is found out to be purely physiological (like thyroid malfunction) then, too, medication is used on its own.