wHY DO PEOPLE GET PANIC ATTACKS AND WHAT IS THE CURE FOR THEM?
What is the cause…why do people get them……is there a remedy for them. How can you help someone who gets them?
Anxiety can come from a lot of places. Caffeine or energy drinks can cause physical increase in the heart, causing possible panic attacks.
Thee are also "triggers". For example, if someone is scared of being killed in car accident and see’s it on a movie, they might have a panic attack is they have anxiety disorder. Someone who has witnessed a traumatic event, a psychological disorder.
To deal with one, there are natural methods as well as medications.
DBT is a good one, it’s based on methods of meditation and is used for people with Bipolar and Borderline Personality disorder but DBT is good for anyone. Panic can be a cycle as well, let’s say someone gets anxious because they saw someone that they are afraid of in a store or something, they leave the store but then worry about if that person saw them, then they worry because they can’t breathe or feel like they need to scream or run. This is anxiety feeding off of anxiety.
I have panic attacks and have been told when I have one I get scary, I scream, cry, pace (I have post traumatic stress syndrome) try to do something drastic, start feeling lightheaded and sick. My friends who have no clue what to do, I tell them.
Talk to me, don’t get scared. If you are scared then this will scare me even more, panic needs to know it’s safe somewhere. Stay calm and if you can’t stay calm get someone who can stay calm for you friend/family. Tell them a joke, a funny story… ask them questions that are light, "so what do you want to do tonight?" If they reply angrily, please do not take this to offense. Panic causes people to act out in ways they normally don’t. If there is medication then it should be taken and eventually it will subside. Also there is tea, chamomile, lavender and vanilla scented incense or candles that help the senses go back to normal.
If the anxiety is bad enough that it is happening every day and more then once a day it is the best thing to seek professional help. There are hotlines to call with counselors who will speak you through it and help ground you. Such as planting your feet on the floor, feeling how the air feels across your faces, hearing sounds and identifying them, wiggling your toes, opening your mouth and tasting the air. Hands on your side, feel the fingertips without touching them. Breathing in and out SLOWLY, some people use, "In good air, out anxiety…." if this is done fast it will cause more anxiety.
Comments
Comment from Blondie7
Time November 4, 2009 at 10:26 pm
a panic attack, actually, simply, is your body thinking that it is suffocating.
when a normal person has an increase in arousal, their reaction is to take a deep breath and relax.
when a person prone to panic attacks has an increase in arousal, their bodys reaction is OH MY GOD I CANT BREATHE IM DYING! and then they go on to have a panic attack.
References :
psych class in college
Comment from old know all
Time November 4, 2009 at 10:40 pm
For most of human existence, we have been hunter gatherers and many of our automatic reactions date back to that period of our development. If you find yourself face to face with a lion, it’s handy if you can either run away or fight it off – the "fight or flight" reaction. The adrenal glands suddenly produce a large amount of a hormone called noradrenaline which causes various parts of the body to shut down so that all resources are available to help save your life.
There are various activities that produce an adrenaline rush in normal behaviour. That’s why people go skiing, climb mountains, jump out of aeroplanes and go bungee jumping.
Panic attacks are when an adrenaline rush happens for inappropriate reasons and the sufferer finds the effects unpleasant. There are a number of methods for making a sufferer’s life more bearable.
The first is to learn to enjoy them. To a sufferer, that sounds complete nonsense, but it can work. If the trigger event is something known and manageable, take an interest in it and be prepared to be excited by it.
For the majority of sufferers, symptoms can be controlled by relaxation therapy. If the body is relaxed, the adrenal glands won’t produce noradrenaline and no amount of triggers will cause an attack (but watch out for that lion). Counselling usually addresses the cause but also includes relaxation therapy to help the symptoms.
The medical approach is to use beta blockers. As well as generally slowing you down and reducing your blood pressure, these inhibit the production of noradrenaline. The drawback is that you don’t get excited about anything and you make an easy meal for that lion. However, they’re useful if the trigger is something occasional, specific and unavoidable – like sitting in an aeroplane with the doors closed.
References :
Comment from whateversvu23
Time November 4, 2009 at 11:10 pm
Anxiety can come from a lot of places. Caffeine or energy drinks can cause physical increase in the heart, causing possible panic attacks.
Thee are also "triggers". For example, if someone is scared of being killed in car accident and see’s it on a movie, they might have a panic attack is they have anxiety disorder. Someone who has witnessed a traumatic event, a psychological disorder.
To deal with one, there are natural methods as well as medications.
DBT is a good one, it’s based on methods of meditation and is used for people with Bipolar and Borderline Personality disorder but DBT is good for anyone. Panic can be a cycle as well, let’s say someone gets anxious because they saw someone that they are afraid of in a store or something, they leave the store but then worry about if that person saw them, then they worry because they can’t breathe or feel like they need to scream or run. This is anxiety feeding off of anxiety.
I have panic attacks and have been told when I have one I get scary, I scream, cry, pace (I have post traumatic stress syndrome) try to do something drastic, start feeling lightheaded and sick. My friends who have no clue what to do, I tell them.
Talk to me, don’t get scared. If you are scared then this will scare me even more, panic needs to know it’s safe somewhere. Stay calm and if you can’t stay calm get someone who can stay calm for you friend/family. Tell them a joke, a funny story… ask them questions that are light, "so what do you want to do tonight?" If they reply angrily, please do not take this to offense. Panic causes people to act out in ways they normally don’t. If there is medication then it should be taken and eventually it will subside. Also there is tea, chamomile, lavender and vanilla scented incense or candles that help the senses go back to normal.
If the anxiety is bad enough that it is happening every day and more then once a day it is the best thing to seek professional help. There are hotlines to call with counselors who will speak you through it and help ground you. Such as planting your feet on the floor, feeling how the air feels across your faces, hearing sounds and identifying them, wiggling your toes, opening your mouth and tasting the air. Hands on your side, feel the fingertips without touching them. Breathing in and out SLOWLY, some people use, "In good air, out anxiety…." if this is done fast it will cause more anxiety.
References :
I work in the mental health field
Comment from peacelove
Time November 4, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Maybe you would find a personal relationship with God helpful. God loves you. God is our Creator, all-knowing, all-powerful, eternal, holy, love. God loves us and sent us His Son, Jesus Christ, so we can go to heaven if we know and follow Him. Forever means without end — time on and on without death. Forever is what happens after we die. Either we go to heaven and be with God forever, or we go to hell which is very bad and painful forever. The good people who are saved believers in Jesus Christ go to heaven. The bad people go to hell. We need to know and follow God in this world to get to heaven in the next world. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is our bridge to God. Jesus died on the cross to cancel our sins. We need to accept Jesus into our life as our Lord and Savior forever to receive God’s blessing and forgiveness plus go to heaven to be with God forever after we die. This is about being a born-again Christian. Faith in God is a gift from God. You can pray for faith in God. Just speak out and ask God for the faith to believe in Him and to follow Him. Some people find faith in God when they realize the beauty in the world is made by God. Evolution can’t explain the world’s natural beauty, for example, the parks in the world, animals, flowers, peacocks, sunsets, butterflies, rainbows, etc. After you have your faith on, you can pray a sinner’s prayer to be a born-again Christian. This prayer is very important and should be said with a sincere heart and faith in God. This is the prayer: "Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice for our sins. I have done the following sins (state these out) and I pray to discontinue these sins. I pray to receive Jesus Christ into my life as my Lord and Savior forever. In Jesus’ name, amen." You could find a Christian church and try it out. I’m Lutheran and I like the Baptist churches too. Some churches have a weekly Bible study group and these are a fun way to find out more about God and His will for your life. God bless.
References :
Comment from snoozle woozle
Time November 4, 2009 at 9:57 pm
It can be caused by genetics, it is linked in families
It can be caused by bad experiences, traumatic experiences
The cause is neurotransmitters. Chemicals in your brain, that tell your adrenal gland to release adrenaline that causes your heart to pound, shaking, fight or flight response. Your brain feels fear, it’s all your body working together.
They can be also caused by substances like alcohol and caffeine, or illegal drugs like ecstasy
You need therapy and/or medications like antidepressants (balance neurotransmitters), beta blockers to block the actions of adrenaline see above, benzodiazepines to basically sedate your mind, or buspar which everyone says doesn’t work. there are other medications but they may not be effective like gabapentin… that’s getting into very specialist psychiatry though.
I’m not a psychiatrist but i work in the field and suffer myself.
References :