Panic Attacks – How Melissa Suffers From Agoraphobia!

By Mark B

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

Melissa remembers her first panic attack like it was yesterday. She was coming home from work as usual on the 5:32 train. She was reviewing her to do list for the weekend and thinking about a presentation she had to give at work on Monday. 

While her obligations were many, going to her daughter´s play, arranging catering for her husband´s birthday the following weekend, making baked goods for the school bazaar and getting this work presentation done that cropped up at the last minute, they were no more than usual. She decided to pick up some food for dinner on the way home and went to the supermarket.     

She put her purse in the cart and started wheeling around the grocery store. She went to the meat counter first to see what was available and what looked good.  Suddenly her heart started racing and she felt weak in the knees. She steadied herself and tried to shake the feeling but terror struck her.

Was she going to die on top of the meat? What would happen to her children?  Where was her husband?  Would he marry someone else? She grabbed at her scarf and removed it; she tried breathing but heard only wheezing. She saw people looking at her and tried to act normal but the inability to breathe was too much. She took her purse and ran out of the store, pulling at her shirt, trying to ease the pressure in her chest. 

As soon as the cool night air hit her she felt better. She started to breath, walked a little to get the circulation going. Then she sat down on the bench outside. Someone came up to her and asked her if she was okay. She simply nodded, still unable to speak. She looked down at herself after a few minutes. She was soaked with sweat and her blouse was ripped open at the chest, her bra was showing.

What had happened and why? This thought would continue to plague Melissa in the coming months as her hesitation, fear and uncertainty mounted.   

Melissa missed the school bazaar, missed her daughter´s play, called in sick on Monday for her presentation and made up an excuse to cancel her husband´s birthday party.

This was the beginning of Melissa´s agoraphobia and the fear that dominated her life from the time she had her panic attack in the supermarket standing over the Idaho potatoes. This fear led to the alienation of her husband and children and the loss of her job and self-esteem. 

Six months after this first panic attack, Melissa´s life was unrecognizable. Melissa was unemployed, living separate from her children and in divorce proceedings from the love of her life of 15 years. Just six months ago, her life had been a picture of success and happiness. She had a great job she loved, two great children who were clever and angelic and a husband who was the light of her life and her high school sweetheart. She had a beautiful home and tons of friends and was active in a number of organizations, including the PTA.

Today, Melissa is afraid to venture too far from her home, she won´t ride the train into the city, she can´t go to crowded places and feels stressed, anxious and worried all the time. Her husband tried to help her but she pushed him away. Her children tried to be understanding but they didn´t understand. Her friends tried to be supportive but she didn´t want their support. 

While this case may be extreme, it shows how agoraphobia can start small, you miss just a couple of events, you make just a couple of excuses but the inertia of avoidance can snowball very quickly into severely damaging your life. While there are varying degrees of agoraphobia, they all have the potential to be severely life limiting and should be addressed as quickly as possible. 

For full information on Panic attacks self help click here

Anxiety Attacks, Panic Attacks, And Stress – Understanding The Impact Of These Feelings On Your Health

By Mark B

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

One day, you wake up, look around and realize that your life has spun out of control.  Your life, once so normal has become like a nightmare. Your job, your personal life, your family, your peace of mind has all been disturbed and you feel powerless to make any change or improvement. The source of this disturbance is the anxiety that has invaded your life and come home to roost in a seemingly permanent manner.  Everyone experiences panic; we would simply be robots if we didn’t. While these feelings of distress may be normal in small, isolated doses, they should not be a pervasive, all consuming fire that threatens your sanity with every step and action.

For anxiety sufferers, the feelings of distress are constant companions that cannot be shaken, that cannot be reasoned with and cannot be easily tamed. The resulting stress from having to contend with such an overwhelming dread leaves many sufferers exhausted and miserable. Sustained angst can have physical manifestations that can severely affect your health.  Some of these affects include:

• A rapid heartbeat• Difficulty breathing• Dizziness• Loss of sensation or tingling in your hands and feet.  • Disorientation• Sweating

These are only some of the effects that could sweep over you as you struggle with a panic attack or excessive apprehension. After experiencing such scary symptoms many people seek to avoid duplicating this occurrence, whatever the cost. They examine the triggers that could have brought these overwhelming feelings about.  They associate the experience with whatever they were doing or wherever they were located when the panic attack struck. After identifying what they believe to be the cause of their distress they avoid any situation where the causes of their anxious episode might be duplicated.

Avoiding the fear becomes a priority and pretty soon your life gets out of whack and relationships, job performance and your physical and mental health suffer. If you are afraid to be around a crowd of people you may neglect going to the gym, seeing movies, eating out with friends or engaging in any kind of social activity. Interacting with coworkers may become problematic and job opportunities may pass you by. 

As your life contracts, your mental state spirals downwards. Cut off from friends, activities and mental stimulation, your mind becomes overwhelmed with anxiety and fear and sleep can be disrupted. 

The lack of sleep, the stress involved with avoiding panic inducing interactions and the fear make you a shadow of your former self. Understanding the power of the mind and its ability to consume your thoughts with unrealistic or exaggerated worries is the first step in changing your situation. 

Your mental and physical health are important and should be protected and cared for.  Relieving your mind of worry will help relieve your body of the manifestations of that worry. By eliminating the physical symptoms that can produce such dread, you will in turn help your mental outlook.

No one wants to contend with a rapidly beating heart or shortness of breath or disorientation. These feelings are scary and while it’s a natural instinct to avoid them, we need to find ways to resolve them without damaging our lives.

For full information on Panic attacks self help click here

Anciety and Panic Attacks – Treatment with Hypnotherapy to Cure Panic Attacks

By Mark B

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

Hypnotherapy has been used as a treatment for different types of physical and mental conditions for a long time now. It has been more than thousand of years now that this therapy is utilized throughout a variety of cultures. In the mid 20th century, modernized version of it was introduced as a medical technique. This was supported by both American as well as British medical Association.

When it comes to panic attacks, there are several ways hypnotherapy can work. In fact, the therapy has been proved helpful in several cases of panic attacks and individuals have been extremely happy with the performance and its effects.

It is sad but true that about one third of American population has already suffered form a panic attack at least once at same point of time in their life. There are several reasons for this. One of the main reasons remains ignorance about the disease, symptoms and treatment options.

One of the most effective options is hypnotherapy. It will help a person to cope up with panic attacks very efficiently. The treatment is fast  and does not leave a negative impact on the patient. The technique helps the person to experience relaxation in a positive and quick pace. 

Hypnotherapy has been extremely successful in teaching panic attack sufferer a brand new way to think as well as behave. There are a lot of breathing exercises and visualizations included in the technique in order to make the sufferer fearless.

The latest accepted technique of hypnotherapy for curing panic attacks is known as hypo- analysis or Analytical Hypnotherapy. This herapy is extremely focused as well as intensive type of talk therapy that helps a patient to be in a safe as well as secure environment. Thereafter it makes the patient travel through the process of identifying as well as underlying cause of patients phobia, anxiety or panic attacks. The process is carried out via using hypnosis.

Once the ulterior cause of panic or anxiety is identified and minimized, all symptoms associated to it would reduce dramatically.

The process of treatment that utilizes this therapy can take a long time and may also be heavier on your pocket. However, the process is extremely effective and facilitates the patient to undergo a self analyzation as well as understand the actual source of fear and anxiety.

A lot of studies have reported success of hypnotherapy in curing panic attacks. Many researches have even suggested effectiveness in helping patients get rid of panic attack.

Experts recommend to try some sessions of hypnotherapy to experience its effectiveness. This will help you get a feel of whether it gives you any impact on your sense of anxiety and well being.

Panic attacks can be quite uncomfortable, abnormal, scary and even stop you from carrying out your daily life activities.

Turning to hypnotherapy will surely help you achieve your goals. It will provide you a life that’s free of any kind of panic or anxiety attack.

For full information on Panic attacks self help click here

Panic Attacks – Could Negative Self Talk Be Causing Your Panic Attacks?

By Mark B

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

What causes panic attacks? Why do some people have them and some don´t? Why do they happen at certain times and not others? These are just a few of the questions that race through the mind of anxiety sufferers.There are so many questions pertaining to why, that you could spend your life obsessing over it. One of the reasons that you may be experiencing extreme problems with fear, stress and worry is that you fuel your body´s apprehension with a lot of negativity.Negative self talk are the things we tell ourselves that are not helpful, not motivating and quite often paralyzing. We can´t do this; everyone will think we´re crazy if we even suggest it; don´t wear red, someone might notice you. These are just some of the notions that flood through anxiety sufferers minds.Another panic inducing thought begins with “what if” followed by hundred or thousands of terrible, catastrophic scenarios. What if I talk to my boss about a raise and he fires me. What if I ask that girl out on the second floor and she says no and tells everyone about it? What if people laugh at me? What if I give a presentation and trip on the way to the podium? What if, what if, what if….These two little words have the ability to steal the confidence of anyone but particularly a panic attack sufferer.Eliminating this self doubt from your thoughts can go along way towards reducing any anxiety you might experience when you encounter a difficult or unusual event during the day. Negative thoughts make you doubt your abilities and avoid certain tasks and activities. Reverse this trend by eliminating these thoughts and replacing them with more positive thoughts.Take a few moments and think about some of your negative thoughts. Write a few done. Make your list!!!For example, you could write I can´t speak in front of others or I am a weakling. Look at your statements. Is there any basis for what have you written. Analyze it carefully and critically, not emotionally. For example, if you wrote that you can´t speak in front of others, think about whether that is really true. Don´t you speak to other people all the time, to your friends, to your family, maybe even to your classroom when you were in school?What if you wrote down you are afraid of tripping in front of other people and as a result, you constantly tell yourself, don´t trip, don´t trip….. What is the likelihood of you actually tripping if you are wearing appropriate shoes? But more than that, what is the worst that could happen if you trip? You skin your knee? Life will go on.To counter panic attacks, you need to begin with the negative self talk that is fueling your worry and anxiety. Analyze the negative thought, consider them as you would a problem at work or in school and determine the likelihood and consequences of such a thing happening.Often, you will find your worries are quite overblown and not necessary in your day to day life. Try to think of positive thoughts that you can build yourself up with throughout the day, such as “I can do it”.

For full information on Panic attacks self help click here

Panic Attacks – What Can You Do About Your Panic Attacks? The Answer Is A Lot!

By Mark B

Here is another article on panic attacks self help that you may find useful

There are so many different ways to cope with panic attacks, anxiety and phobias; it´s simply a matter of choosing what works best for you and sticking with it. Sometimes, figuring out the best techniques for you will take some trial and error, don´t be discouraged, you will find something that works for you.While many doctors prescribe medications to treat anxiety problems, there are proven ways to cope with many phobias, panic attacks and other anxiety conditions without using medications.One of the first things you can do is start an exercise program and change your diet. Sometimes the nutrition we put in our bodies is actually fueling our panic attacks. Too much caffeine, nicotine or other stimulants can cause edginess, anxiety and paranoia.A diet too high in refined sugars can cause us to be hyped up all day, helping to fuel anxiety or panic. In addition to changing your diet, a regular exercise program can be a great way to relieve stress and improve your overall health.By learning strategies that you can apply in your daily life to help control anxiety, you can learn to prevent, control and recover from the fear that strikes you as you are living your life. So go back out again, enjoy life and use these to help you conquer your fears.The following strategies may help you to manage your fears, anxieties, phobias and panic attacks:-  Abdominal Breathing-  Progressive Muscle Relaxation Training-  Regular Aerobic Exercise-  Managing your thoughts through Meditation-  Imagery Desensitization-  Identifying and Expressing feelings-  Developing assertiveness skills-  Developing self-nurturing skills-  Changing your diet-  Postive-Thought-Redirection-  Finding a Good Support Person (or Support Network)Finding a support person may not seem like an obvious coping strategy but having someone you can rely on and trust is a good way to go out and confront fears. Your support person can provide the reassurance you need to engage in activities that make you anxious.Consider who will meet your needs by thinking about these factors:-  Are you comfortable discussing your problems with this person?-  Does this person listen to you and support you without judging or belittling you?-  Does this person understand panic disorder or whatever anxiety problem you are dealing with or are they willing to learn?-  Can this person take the time to support you?When you rush to the hospital with your panic attack, you may be given medications. However, generally panic attacks are treated with relaxation techniques and reassurance.Relaxation is the basis for any foundation to deal with panic attacks, GAD or any other phobia. Relaxation is not simply zoning out in front of the TV or having a tub of popcorn; it is deep, mind relaxation. Think meditation or yoga type relaxation where you reach a state of mind and body calm.Deep relaxation on a daily basis allows your body and mind to experience the complete opposite sensations of a panic attack. Your heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, metabolic rate and analytical thinking all decrease as you free your mind and body into this deep state.Practicing deep relaxation through meditation for 20-30 minutes everyday can provide not only a reduction in your generalized anxiety, and panic attacks but also can prevent stress from becoming cumulative, increase your energy level, improve concentration and increase self-confidence.This is a powerful tool in combating the emotional rigors of daily life. It is important you stick with deep relaxation, you might not see a change for several weeks or even months but over time you will notice a deeper calm and happiness in your life. You may not be cured of panic attacks but you will experience them less frequently and you will find yourself better able to cope with them and recover from the experience.There are many ways to achieve a state of deep relaxation. The easiest way is to probably join a meditation or yoga class that focuses on meditation and have someone guide you through the process. However, there are things you can do at home on your own time to help you achieve this deep state of relaxation.

For full information on Panic attacks self help click here

Powered by Yahoo! Answers