A panic attack is a terrifying experience that can lead some people to seek emergency medical treatment thinking that they are dying, or suffering a heart attack. Anyone can experience a panic attack, but there are people that are particularly prone to them and suffer them with greater intensity and frequency. For some this is an indication of an underlying panic or anxiety disorder. Coping with panic attacks can be as simple as knowing how to approach someone experiencing one, but it can also require medical attention. Effective treatment starts with understanding panic attacks, their causes and symptoms.
Panic Attacks
Panic attacks are brief periods of very intense fear that are characterized by physical and emotional symptoms. Generally they have an onset of only a few moments and reach the peak of their intensity within ten minutes. All symptoms subside within a few hours but some sufferers do not fully recover for several days due to the emotional and exhausting nature of panic attacks. Some sufferers experience what is known as anticipatory anxiety leading up to attacks due to the fear of suffering an attack at an inopportune moment. This anxiety can become debilitating, and causes sufferers to avoid social or new situations.
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Causes of Panic Attacks
Though it is not entirely clear why they occur, it is understood that panic attacks are a creation of the sympathetic nervous system. This is a system of the body that releases hormones during threatening situations. These hormones, including adrenaline, protect the body from the impending attack by either preparing it to fight or compelling it to flee the situation in which the threat originated. This response is commonly know as the fight or flight reaction, and is an in-born reflex. Panic attacks are not caused by the same situations or triggers in every person. There are, however, common causes among most sufferers. These include intense stress, unexpected or severe grief, pain or humiliation. For those that suffer panic attacks frequently the triggers can be much more precise. They may stem from overstimulation of the senses, exposure to particular situations, or from persistent negative memories.
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Treatment of Panic Attacks
Treatment of panic attacks covers a wide range. Some attacks are not severe enough to require any form of treatment. Rather, the sufferer should be approached calmly, and comforted, assured that they are safe and secure and that everything is under control. Generally this will allow him to relax and the attack will subside. If a panic attack is particularly bad, however, or they are very frequent, the sufferer may benefit from some medical attention. Bad attacks can be treated in a medical facility using tranquilizers that will relax and calm the sufferer and allow the reaction to subside. Frequent panic attacks, including those caused by panic or anxiety disorder, can be treated using medications and therapy. There are medications that are taken when the patient is beginning to feel anxious, or that are taken daily to maintain emotional and psychological balance. Therapy allows the patient to explore not only the reasons behind his anxiety but also the methods of control that are most effective to him. Some patients benefit largely from learning coping techniques that allow the patient to monitor his levels of anxiety and employ calming mechanisms that will prevent a full blown panic attack.
