Jan
There is no cure-all panic and anxiety attack remedy. Each individual experiences a unique set of triggers and panic response levels. Your personal panic attack remedy will not be the same as another person’s. It is has been said that the fear of having another can be enough to trigger one. Panic disorders are treatable to various degrees by prescription medicines, behavior changes and even some non-prescription natural remedies.
Any person who experiences anxiety attacks wants nothing more than to prevent recurrence. The best panic and anxiety attack remedy is the one that prevents the attack because stopping an attack after it starts can be difficult. Behavior changes to prevent panic attacks do not deliver overnight results. Any effective anxiety attack remedy will require time to become effective. Even prescription medicines must reach therapeutic levels in the body over time and behavioral-based panic attack remedies depend on effort and practice by the sufferer to become effective.
So there is some lag time before your methods of dealing with this problem will start to work, but hang in there. Over time it is possible to stop this problem without drugs, but only if you are dilligent in practicing the techniques presented by the therapist or self help program. I’d be a millionaire if I had an immediate magic bullet, but alas, not yet.
Lifestyle changes are an important part of any panic attack remedy. Even prescription-based treatments work better with certain changes in lifestyle. A person suffering from panic disorders needs to learn what activities or environmental conditions may trigger panic attacks. Every sufferer has individual triggers. A trigger may be thinking about a certain subject, stress at work or particular social contexts. This is why people sometimes end up stuck in their houses with agoraphobia, but that is another article.
An effective panic attack remedy might involve changing jobs or learning to minimize the stress factors in your current job (and if your job is pure torture, chuck it out, anxiety or no). A strict adherence to a routine that avoids triggers can be an effective panic attack remedy but might feel a bit constraining. Sometimes exposure therapy, where the sufferer is gradually exposed to the trigger in a controlled environment can be very effective. Another good choice is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, during which the therapist instructs you on how to cope and change your thoughts and behaviors to remedy the attacks. Also, stress management training is always a good idea, even for people without anxiety attacks.
In a portion of panic sufferers alcohol increases the incidence of anxiety attacks. As part of your personal panic attack remedy, keeping a diary of activities and noting attacks can point to indirect triggers. Alcohol may cause attacks a few hours or a day later making it hard to establish a connection. Diary or journal entries can help you establish the relationship between alcohol use and your panic attacks. Even if alcohol proves not to be related to your attacks, the diary just might show some other triggers you have not considered. The very act of investigating the causes can be part of your strategy to get rid of them.
Anxiety attacks require a certain amount of mental cooperation. If you anticipate a panic attack and begin to fear one may be “on the way”; the prediction easily becomes self-fulfilling. It can be a difficult but effective panic attack remedy to find another focus of your mental energies. A fully occupied mind may not have the resources to maintain a panic attack. This mental exercise seems to say to the panic attack sufferer “it’s all in your head but hold on until its over”.
Your friends or coworkers find it far too easy to tell you your problem is in your head. Until a person experiences a couple of panic attacks that may be easy to believe. It is true that a panic attack requires your mind’s resources. A mind that is occupied with interesting input or a challenging problem may not have the resources to support a full-blown panic attack.
Keep your mind occupied. Many anxiety attacks develop when negative thoughts are allowed to free flow. If you feel an attack coming on becoming occupied in an interesting activity can prevent the mind having the resources to sustain a panic attack. The sudden onset type of panic attack probably will not respond as well to this panic attack remedy.
Tags: Anxiety relief, panic attacks