There are eight different types of anxiety attacks:

1.    generalized anxiety disorder

2.    panic attack

3.    phobias

4.    agoraphobia

5.    social anxiety disorder

6.    obsessive compulsive disorder

7.    post-traumatic stress disorder

8.    separation anxiety

Of all these anxiety attacks, the panic attack must be the most painful. We all know what anxiety is! Some times, we have also known what panic is! Believe it not, anxiety and panic are the two of the greatest boons we have! It is the anxiety and the panic that helps us to gear up and fight. It is the anxiety to please our teacher that made us behave well at school, or the panic that we may fail that made us study more. Even now, we are anxious all the time. We are anxious to please our boss or some body at home. We are anxious to earn more money. We panic at the thought of losing our jobs. All these anxiety and panic actually are helping us to go forward.

However, when we talk about anxiety and panic attack, we definitely do not mean the kind of anxiety or panic we know. When we have anxiety attack, this very normal anxiety, which pushes us forward, keeps us from coping. It just makes us numb and pulls us behind. Anxiety and panic attack can disrupt your life. It is, indeed, more than a case of nerves. It is a psychological disorder that sometimes runs in the family. It is terrifying.

Good news is that one can easily cure anxiety and panic attack if he wants to and the bad news is that it is very hard to diagnose. Let me make it clear first, the anxiety attack is generalized anxiety disorder or GAD. Though GAD and the panic attack are two different types of disorders, their symptoms are very similar and so is their treatment. Often it happens that the people talk about anxiety attack, when they actually mean panic attack.

The main difference between the two are that the people suffering from generalized anxiety disorder or GAD are worried about something in their life, while the people suffering from panic attack fear about their life itself.

Secondly, people suffering from Gad are constantly worried about something or the other. They are often anticipating disaster, worry excessively about health, money, family, work etc. They cannot let their worried go and these worries give rise to physical symptoms. The panic attack too manifest itself in similar symptoms, they do not worry at all. They panic. The panic rises out of blue and reaches its peak within 10 minutes and stay for another 30 minutes before subsiding.

The physical symptoms that accompany anxiety attack are:

1.    trembling, twitching, and muscle tension

2.    headaches

3.    irritability

4.    sweating or hot flashes

5.    feeling lightheaded

6.    out of breath

7.    nausea or a need to go to the bathroom frequently

8.    sensation of a lump in the throat

9.    exaggerated startle response

10.    fatigue

11.    difficulty concentrating

One suffering from panic attack will have most of these and more. He will feel, along with shaking and trembling, chest pain and discomfort, hot and cold flashes, shortness of breadth, pounding heart, sweating and nausea. He will feel as if he is dying or if not dying but is losing control and getting mad. All these symptoms will occur with no apparent reason. Panic attack is more terrifying than anxiety attack, though anxiety attack is bad enough.

If you want to cure anxiety and panic attack, you should have it properly diagnosed first. It may take a long time, as you can see most of the symptoms are similar to physical ailments. You can even be rushed to cardiac department in anticipation that you have some severe cardiac problem. Have patience and go through all the physical and psychological tests you are asked to take.

There are mainly two types of medicines to deal with the situation. The benzodiazepine is a good panic disorder medicine that acts almost instantly. If you take it at the on set of panic attack, it will stop the panic from forming inside you. However, it is habit forming and therefore the anxiety attack patients should specially be careful, for their type of disorder may tempt them into taking it more often than they should. Antidepressants are also good panic disorder medicine. However, they act slowly and have to be taken for longer period to be effective.

However, if you want to cure anxiety and panic attack, you should depend more on cognitive behavioral therapy. Contact a psychotherapist with the acronym MD or DO, if you want full recovery. You may not need medicines at all. Self-help tricks, life style changes, meditation, exercises and yoga along with the therapy may see you through.

It is very natural for a person to get anxious or tensed when they are faced with difficult or embarrassing situations. However, when these anxiety attacks come very frequently without any warnings, then there is something wrong with you. You may or may not have anxiety disorder; never jump to conclusions, always seek some professional help. When it is confirmed that you have anxiety disorder, don’t rest; fight it and you will succeed.

There are several treatment options that are available for panic or anxiety disorders. These disorders are not curable; however, you can reduce the symptoms that are caused by the anxiety or panic attacks. Doctors are the guides who will recommend the best treatment for you. It is entirely your call on the type of treatment. Whatever may be the treatment; you must ensure that you get total relief when you are undergoing that treatment.

If you feel that you are not getting any relief from the treatment, or your mental situation is getting from bad to worse, then you need to take up another treatment. Never make haste in switching over to another treatment, because there are some treatments that are slow acting and make take few weeks to few months to show some signs of relief. The cost of the treatment is also a very big concern for most patients.

Most treatment costs are driven by the time of the treatment. If expensive equipments are used for the treatment of anxiety attack, the cost of the treatment will also shoot up substantially. Selecting the best treatment can be very confusing, so you need to do a thorough research on the various treatment options first. If you have any friend or family member who is suffering from anxiety attacks, then you may want to ask that friend or family member for more details. If you select to go for medications, then you may need a very good doctor.

If your family doctor is not qualified to treat you for the anxiety disorder, then you may ask for few references from him or her. If you have a choice of few doctors who are equally good then you may want to select the doctor who is the closest your house or office.  When the doctor who is treating you for the anxiety attack is close to your house or office, you can easily meet the doctor whenever you feel that things are going out of hand. Another advantage of having your doctor near by is that you save time in traveling.

When you go to a qualified doctor with your miserable mental condition, the doctor will first make you comfortable and treat you with medications. Most panic disorder medicine will give you relief. However, if the doctor feels that the medications are not sufficient for the treatment of the anxiety disorder, then he or she may suggest or recommend alternative therapies. Most of these alternative therapies are done in combination with the current medications that are given by the doctor. The doctors and the therapist work in tandem to ensure that you get complete relief.

Common alternative therapies that are deployed in conjunction with the anxiety disorder medications are as follows:

o    Cognitive therapy
o    Behavior therapy
o    Relaxation

Most therapists are highly qualified for the treatment for anxiety attacks; however if you don’t feel confident about the therapist, you may ask for the credentials, experience, and other important things. If you feel that the therapist is not suited for the job, do not hesitate to switch to some other better therapist. The ultimate goal of the therapist must be to give you total relief from the anxiety disorder. If therapists don’t meet their objectives, then it is very likely that they will not meet their goal.

Continuing with an incompetent therapist, will only add up to your misery and will burn a big hole in your pocket. A good therapist will be constantly after you to make a conscious effort toward reducing the effects of the symptoms of anxiety attacks. Getting a good therapist who accepts nominal fees is a very rare combination and very difficult to find. Most good therapists charge a great deal, but they ensure that you get relief in few days to few weeks. You can also search the therapists on the Internet.

Treatment for Anxiety attacks: There are several methods of treatment for anxiety attacks. You can get counseling from your family doctors or counselors. Making relevant changes in your lifestyle can help you overcome your problems. You can make small changes in your lifestyle like:

•    Taking a Yoga class near your place.

•    Limit your intake of Nicotine. You can reduce your intake of smoking. This will help you to reduce your anxiety level and calm your nerves.

•    Limit your caffeine level intake by drinking less tea or coffee per day.

•    Proper sleeping habits help your mind to relax.
One of the best  available  treatment for anxiety attacks  is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This technique uses the paradigm, “The way you think, affects the way you do things.” It helps to change the way that you think, when you are in a tense situation. This involves

•    Learning to relax through new breathing techniques, exercises.

•    Stop creating negative thoughts and replacing them with more balanced views.

•    Start realizing the reality of the situation and getting things done in a systematic way rather than being fearful.
Group therapy is also used in cognitive behavior technique. These include acting, video recording and observing, and other exercises that help you to cope up with the anxious world. These therapies help you to prepare for situations that you fear most! It helps the patient to gain confidence and work more comfortable in real society.

Panic disorder Medicine: Panic disorder medicine which  are used to relieve the symptoms of social anxiety, but it is not a complete cure. It is very helpful in addition to taking the therapy for social anxiety or social phobia. They are

•    Beta blockers help in blocking the flow of adrenaline when you feel anxious. Though they do not stop the emotional symptoms of anxiety, they help to curb physical factors like sweating, trembling hands, voice change and rapid heartbeat.

•    Antidepressants are helpful when the condition is severe and unbearable.

•    Benzodiazepines are fast acting anti-anxiety medicines, but they are sedative and addictive in nature. So they are used only in extreme cases.

Though these medications may relieve some of your symptoms they have their own side effects and risks! Talking to your medical counselor may help you about the right type of medication that you must take. Biological contributors to depression are elevated stress hormones, immune system suppression, nutritional deficiencies, some abnormal activities in certain parts of the brain and shrinking brain cells. Social and psychological factors such as loneliness, low self esteem, poor diet and lack of exercises play a big role in depression of the mind.

Doctors believe that if the panic disorder medicine if taken at the right time  are life saving! Suppose you have severe depression that’s interfering with your ability to function, then taking medicines is the best choice. Using medicines with additional therapies is a better strategy with no or lesser side effects.

Side effects of medicines: In our Brain there is a chemical called, “serotonin.”This helps to regulate our moods. It helps in regulating our digestion, sleep and other body activities. These antidepressants contain serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s). They create common problems like drowsiness, sexual problems, nausea and sleeping problems. They may lead to bone loss in adults leading to risk of falling in adults. For some these may be temporary, for they may become continue to persist.

When you take your medications there are few things to consider.
Question to ask your Mental health professional

•    Am I taking the right prescribed medicine and how long should I continue with the medication?

•    Will I be able to handle the side effects?

•    What non drug treatments will be helpful for me?

•    What type of therapy will be helpful to me with additional to this therapy?
Questions to ask your Doctor

•    What are the side effects of the medicine that you are prescribing?

•    What type of food should I avoid taking?

•    The time duration for which I should take this medication

•    Will there be adverse effects if you stop taking this medication?

If you use medication follow these rules. Visit your family doctor and go the psychiatrist he tells you to go for treatment. Take your medicines regularly and watch for the side effects. Don’t stop your medicines abruptly. Use psychotherapy, to help you remove and balance your negative thoughts and actions.
Today we live in a fast world filled with stress energies! We should help our fellow human beings to reduce their social anxieties and help them live a less stressful life!

Anxiety disorder is a multi-headed demon, something akin to the Hindu demon Ravan. It sprouts from a variety of causes – as varied as from genetic to stress-induced. Some of the manifestations of the syndrome include:
•    Generalized anxiety Disorder
•    Panic attack
•    Phobias
•    Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
•    Separation Disorder
•    Obsessive and Compulsive Disorder
The ailments have been observed in children, teenagers and adults.
A general problem associated with anxiety disorders is the lack of awareness about its underlying causes, symptoms as well as treatments and panic disorder medicines. For instance, how many of us know what Agoraphobia is?

Very few!

Agoraphobia (from Greek agora = marketplace and –phobia = fear) is a form of social anxiety disorder, caused by the fear of being in a setting from which there is no easy means of escape. As a result, sufferers of agoraphobia may avoid public places or places foreign to them. In extreme cases, the patient gets confined to his home, imagining it to be safe.
People who have faced traumatic situations find it difficult to acclimatize themselves to even normal manifestations of their fear factor, thereby making them victims of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Children resisting school or hostels are scared of living apart from their parents – these security issues that a child has can be clubbed as separation disorder.
A particular action that a person tends to do repeatedly because of some associated paranoia in his mind has been described as Obsessive and Compulsive disorder.

There are various treatments for anxiety attacks, some common to all types and some specific.

The most important psychotherapy available is Cognitive and Behavioural therapy (CBT). The patient attends one-to-one sessions with the psychotherapist and learns to master his thoughts and to strengthen his will power. He makes an effort to hold his panic and anxiety when the bout sets in. In other words, he becomes cognizant of his thought processes and controls his behavioural responses.

Biofeedback is another therapeutic mechanism used in conjunction with CBT. It consists of attaching several small portable meters to a patient’s body – these machines measure quantities  like heartbeat, blood pressure, sweat gland activity and body temperature in such a way that the patient himself can see the changes in the values. The visualization of the fluctuation in his physiological parameters helps the patient realize more strongly the effect of his panicky thoughts on his body. The desire to control his thoughts and his body variables begins to take root in his psychology. It has been observed that gradually, the patient’s will power strengthens to an extent that he can begin to control his body parameter changes, albeit only partially.

Some other therapies available include:
•    Exposure therapy – post-traumatic stress disorder patients are made to face their fear factors in a controlled environment and in the presence of a trained psychotherapist. The patient slowly gets adapted to the fear factor and his phobia reduces considerably.
•    Exposure and response prevention therapy – obsessive and compulsive disorder patients are given this treatment. They are exposed to whatever fear they may have and are, as the title suggests, prevented from giving the characteristic response. For example: the patient is exposed to dirt (fear/cause) and forbidden to wash his hands (response). The therapy follows the same logic as exposure therapy.
•    Eye movement desensitization and reprogramming therapy (EMDR) – an alternative social anxiety disorder treatment. Agoraphobias and other social anxiety disorders may have as their root cause certain unpleasant, even traumatic memories that have not been processed properly. It presupposes that a complete processing can bring about treatment of symptoms. It is an eight-phase treatment. EMDR's most unique aspect is an unusual component of dual stimulation of the brain, such as to and fro eye movements, sounds like pings or taps, or bilateral tactile stimulation coupled with cognitions, visualized images and body sensation. EMDR also utilizes dual attention awareness – the negative thought about the trauma and a positive belief about self – to allow the individual to move between the traumatic past and the safety of the present moment.
Other general treatments for anxiety attack include sleep-inducing baths or sauna treatments, music therapy, laughter therapy, massage, acupressure and acupuncture, yoga et cetera. Segregation of caffeine from the diet is also advised.
Panic disorder medicine is also available and can be made use of is the psychotherapist deems it necessary. Major groups of drugs involved are all sedatives. Benzodiazepines, Buspirones and Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors are some of the popular classes of medicanes.

It is human nature to be uncomfortable and a bit anxious when confronted with something new. These feelings are essentially safeguards often cultivated from years of social upbringing where one would be on the lookout for similarities – in interests, in likes and dislikes, outlook, hobbies et cetera – before proceeding to follow through with bonding or friendship. On the extreme, however, would be those who suffer from social anxiety disorder, whereby getting to know others are easily the most fearful of things to be done. Those afflicted with this condition would often shun public places, as they are held back feelings and emotions which they – more often than not – think are abnormal and only they know. What they should know is that there is social disorder treatment available provided that the condition is recognized as a psychological ailment that it is.

Holding back when meeting new people is of course an innate nature of ours, but there are some individuals with the knack of being for getting along well with everyone but the most unfriendly of people. For these heaven sent friendly people, the most endearing quality in them would be their ability to transcend the myriad of differences to find a silver lining in everyone they meet. Patients needing social disorder treatment are in the opposite side of this equation, finding it difficult to approach anyone. They would find it better to stick to a close few than risk the chance of breaking into whatever it is that they assume would happen when they do so. Sometime, the condition sees those afflicted exhibiting outwards manifestation of their social anxieties in the form of stammering, profuse sweating, fidgeting or even, in the most extreme of cases, lapsing into unconsciousness.

The latter is without a doubt due to the extreme biological reactions from serious cases of anxiety attack where the pulse rate and the patient heart beat would increase. It’s almost akin to panic attacks, which in turn is similar to that which sufferers of heart attack would be familiar with. The shutting down of the body – by going into unconsciousness – is the natural way a body reacts to such symptoms. When applying treatment for anxiety attack on such patients, care must be taken into considering their weakened condition as to not allow further stimulation of the defensive reaction of the body. Most of the time, it would take a really severe case of anxiety attack – especially if it related to social anxiety disorder conditions – to manifest such extreme bodily reactions in the first place.

For most patients – if not all – social anxiety disorder treatment would take the psychological route instead of the medicinal one. Social anxiety stems normally from the fear and anxiety of being unaccepted, sometimes derived from innate insecurities developed at certain points during one’s life. This can be cured and as such treatment for anxiety attack should therefore look at the root cause as to why those afflicted with the condition developed these insecurities in the first place. This you cannot do outside of learning about the patients. Learning about what makes them tick, knowing their hopes and fears, their aspirations and most importantly, their historical background. Social anxiety disorder treatment is thus something which only the psychological route could tackle, and do so effectively.

Patients have to be shown that there is actually nothing to fear. After all, the fear and anxiety of being rejected is quite normal to everyone, and that, while some would reject you for no good reason, more would allow others to come into their lives for the simple reason that the more people they know, the richer would their life be. Treatment for anxiety attack is best handled by those psychiatrists who are able to instill and built up a patient’s confidence level; in other words, psychiatrists with good people skills. Being able to relate to these patients would allow them to express their fears and anxiety much better, and in doing so, they would build up their own strength and convictions, easily amongst the first steps to being fully treated. There is, of course, some failsafe, one off, non psychological method to arrest impending anxiety attacks in panic disorder medicine such as relaxant like Xanax and Klanopin, but these are at best to stem the tide of panic anxiety and not cure the ailment. But all the same, having these within easy access would allow the patients the extra strength in mind that they can beat their disorder.

There are some human traits than is normal in every one of us and these are sometime those based purely on emotional plane instead of anything resembling something that the science of biology can fully explain. These are things like love, hate, concerns, fears, like, dislikes; the list can be quite substantial, but they are still common to every one no matter what their disposition or standing in life might be. However, there are some who experiences more severe reactions to certain stimulus including those with extreme stage frights, for example, one of the clearest form of social anxiety disorder that could surface. Despite the seemingly psychiatric nature of such conditions, it should heartened those suffering from it that  social anxiety disorder treatment are nonetheless available to help them live a normal life.

Anyone who suffers from social anxiety disorder, otherwise known as social phobia, tended to be loners not because they can't get along with others, but their much deeper  concern and fear of being rejected by the rest. Thus they make it a point to shun relationships with others, but in a world that thrives of people being in close knit communities, there is almost no choice for all of use, including those suffering from such a disorder, to still have at the very least minimal contact with fellow humans.
However, it is in these nominal contact that could trigger such attacks and as such for the condition sufferers, social anxiety disorder treatment could well be the only thing that could help lead a normal life.

With good research and knowhow, it is becoming for more common to access social anxiety disorder treatment from physicians and psychiatrists, as the number of people afflicted with the conditions had certainly warranted careful study in the matter. For a long time before the condition gathered acceptance in it being a medical condition, those who suffers from social anxiety disorder are only diagnosed as shy and timid folks who fears being in and amongst the crowd. Never mind that they might have an intense fear and concern whenever these anxiety attacks come, as the rest of us could hardly come to term with something seemingly so harmless.

For the sufferer of the social anxiety disorder conditions, every meeting, every social event and every public speaking event is a discomforting situations that would have them sweating profusely, trembled in deep fear and, in some extreme reactions, passed out totally. The most debilitating factor that earns the condition recognition amongst the medical fraternity would be in that those suffering from it could end up being depressed and unable to function normally. It is thus imperative that these sufferers are provided at the very least treatment for anxiety attack so that they could alleviate the symptoms as to water down its impact on their lives.

Treatment for social anxiety disorders come in combinations of two actually, with the first, that of counseling by psychiatrists targeting the mind and spirit while the second, prescribed medications targeting the more scientific based biological functions of the human body. Social anxiety disorder treatment benefits best from a combination of both even though any one of them should help lessen, if not cure the patients entirely from the said affliction. Counseling sessions help in building up the patients' confidence levels so that they would eventually see that there is no fear in meeting people and that they are not going to evaluate them in a negative manner. Patients need to be shown that even if some of the more inconsiderate in us does that, there is simply no reason to be overly concerned as what is important is that they believe in themselves. As for the physical self, panic disorder medicine such as anxiety drugs and relaxant helps the body to balance its biological functions so that there is little to be tense about when they confronted with any situation that might just trigger an anxiety attack. The twin combination of treatment, if pursued with some positive thoughts and passion should help build up the patient self confidence and bury their condition to the point of no return.