Keep anxiety and panic attacks under control

What are anxiety and panic attacks?

There is a natural sequence of emotional events as you anticipate future events, worry about the outcomes and then feel stressed. In perhaps the majority of people, this sense of pressure and urgency leads to greater effort. So, people work harder to prepare and that extra effort pays off with better performance in difficult situations. When the situation is resolved, the pressure is relieved and people relax back into their usual rhythm of life. Unfortunately, in a smaller number of people, the usual relaxation fails to materialize. Instead, the level of worry and anxiety increases and, over time, can become excessive. If this slow build-up is not controlled, normal worry becomes an irrational anxiety. It is then only a small step for this anxiety to become panic. The heart pounds, fear expands and ordinary life comes to an end until control is restored. Should these attacks become regular, triggered by the same situations, the person has acquired a disability. He or she must now avoid these situations. Life is forced to change for the worse.

Doctors now classify these disorders under a number of headings. For the majority, the effects are generalized, i.e. people can experience anxiety or panic is a wide range of different situations. But, for some, the consequences are specific. Thus, in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, people are forced to perform set rituals of thought or action as a part of their routine of living. This can become very disruptive if, for example, people feel obliged to fight possible bacterial infections by hand washing and cleaning rituals. People with Social Phobia find it impossible to go out in public or meet with other people. Those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder find it impossible to forget a traumatic event. They either continuously replay the event or become so afraid it may happen again that the pattern of their lives is completely changed.

What are the main forms of treatment?

Once the diagnosis is confirmed, the standard treatment uses either or both medication and psychological counseling and support. The choice and balance between the two approaches requires discussion with your doctor depending on the cause of the difficulties. For example, if there is evidence of an associated depression or substance abuse, whether alcohol or drugs, there will be different priorities. However, there is one underlying reality about the use of drugs as a treatment. Valium is a world-beating drug when it comes to calming the mind and body, but it cannot cure the source of anxiety or panic. Valium does what it says it will do. It calms you and nothing more. Once you are calm, you can then respond with a more open mind to the counseling and support. Cognitive behavioral therapy is consistently shown to be the most effective treatment for the psychological triggers of anxiety and panic. Therapists teach relaxation techniques and coping strategies so that people can resume a more normal pattern of life.