Follow The Tips On How To Cope With Anxiety Attack If You Want Relief From Attacks

Anxiety attacks are often called panic disorder, though there is a degree of difference between the two. Both of them fall under the larger umbrella of ‘anxiety disorder’ and are quite similar in nature. Both of them have symptoms ranging from heart palpitation, shortness of breathe, dizziness etc. However, the symptoms of panic attack are so acute that the patient is seized with terror. He feels as if he is going to choke and die. The feeling of panic is so severe that he often thinks that he is going to become crazy. No body other than a sufferer will understand how very painful the situation can be.

Fortunately, many psychiatrist as well as ex-sufferers has opened sites on the internet giving tips on how to cope with anxiety attacks. These tips are good for panic attack too. If you go through such sites, you will be able to master some of the tricks that may help you while coping with your own anxiety attacks. That is not to say that you can master anxiety attack or panic disorder on your own, without outside help. It is a medical problem and medical intervention is necessary to eradicate them completely.

Since most of the symptoms are physical, you will probably not realize that you are actually suffering from panic attack in the beginning. You will take them as general physical ailment and land up at the emergency department. The hospital will naturally dismiss you without any treatment, for what you are suffering from is not physical, but psychological and the emergency department is not equipped to diagnose that.

If the attack takes place second time within a month, be sure that it is panic attack and take appropriate steps. Remember the first panic attack may have an oblique reason, the second attack have none. Sometimes the memory of the first attack induces the second one. Some times, there is no reason at all and the symptoms appear unexpectedly. In case of anxiety attack, there is always a stressor, something to remind you of the impending disaster, imaginary most of the time.

There should be two approaches of tackling the attacks. One is to tackle it at the onset and other is to eradicate it completely.  Both of them should run side-by-side. In the first approach, you have to stop the attack from becoming full blown at the very beginning. Of course, you need training to identify the first symptoms to stop it at the beginning. The cognitive behavioral therapy will teach you to do that.

The dictionary meaning of the word cognitive relates to our thought process. You use reasoning, intuition and perception to acquire knowledge about something, in this case our own mind. Cognitive therapy teaches us to recognize and then divert our thought to safer channel. This is one way, how you can cope with anxiety attack or panic disorder on your own.

The behavioral therapy on the other hand tries to modify our behavior and teach us to face the situation that first triggered the panic. However, cognitive behavioral therapy takes time to act. There are medications for panic disorder, which will help you stop it at the very beginning. Medicines of the benzodiazepines group are more commonly used for rapid short-term relief of symptoms. You can take one at the very on set of the attack and the symptoms will disappear. However, its effects stay for a short period and the patients are tempted to take one more. This may lead to drug dependence and abuse.

Another group of medications is antidepressants. These have some anti anxiety medication and need to be taken for a long time to be effective. In the mean time, you can practice some exercises that will help you to cope with panic attacks at the primary stage:

1.    Start with breathing through your nose for a slow three counts.

2.    Then hold your breath for a slow three counts.

3.    Then exhale for another slow three counts. Follow this process as long as necessary. It really helps.

4.    You can also practice ‘stop and replace’. Stop the disturbing thought on the very onset and replace it with some more pleasant thought.

5.    Keep yourself busy. If you do not have much work, develop a hobby. Mental exercise like puzzles and sudokus will help you to keep your mind off the worries. If nothing else works, try counting backwards from 100.

6.     If possible, have some you trust talk to you. If possible, ask him to message your hands while talking.

7.    Tense various muscles of your body and hold them for few seconds and then release them slowly and let your self relax.