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What is a Panic Attack?Have you ever experienced a panic attack? Do you experience them regulary? What are they? The Oxford Medical Dictionary describes them as "brief episodes of acute distress, mental confusion, and fear of impending death. The heart beats rapidly, breathing is deep and fast, and sweating occurs." The truth is having a full-blown panic attack can be one of the most terrifying experiences that you can have. If you have had this experience before you'll know exactly what I mean. If I had to personally describe my own experience of them, I'd say that it was very much a "brief episode of acute distress". Sometimes these episodes of panic seemed to occur from no obvious trigger, and other times I'd feel something I hadn't felt before inside my body and that would trigger an attack. It is very difficult to describe what happens during an actual attack to someone who has not had one. Everyone experiences feelings of stress or anxiety. This is different though. It's much more intense. For me there always seemed to be a fear that I was going to lose control, or that I wasn't going to survive. That fear actually caused physical symptoms during the "episode of acute distress". Often times it seemed to happen for no apparent reason, and was definitely not pleasant to say the least. But at the end of the day, I'm thankful that I had them and experienced them. I think that it's made me a much more relaxed person overall. I realize that it's a bit of a paradox, but by experiencing panic during a point in my life, I am now able to focus better, work harder, and relax much more than I ever would have been able to prior to having those experiences. How did I go from having regular panic attacks to overcoming them completely? There were a few key steps that helped me in my journey: Why develop scientific and objective reasoning as part of your thought process? Because it can help keep you focused and calm. I really wanted to try and develop a scientific understanding of the symptoms I had experienced. Understanding what the actual symptoms of a panic attack were was my first step in developing rational thinking and ultimately learning to relax. Eventually this helped me become panic attack free. Why? Because once I understood the symptoms, I was able to quickly determine whether or not what I was feeling was panic or anxiety related. This helped me become much more objective and relaxed overall. What are the symptoms of a panic attack? Once I knew that I was experiencing acute panic or anxiety, I utilized a series of procedures, tips and strategies (some were recommended by my doctor and counselor, and there were some others that I created on my own) that really helped me deal with the symptoms that I was experiencing. In a way I had my own personal "procedure manual" in place, ready to be used whenever I experienced a panic attack. These tips and strategies were and are to this day highly effective for me. It's also important to note the importance of Cognitive therapy. For me personally, this was the most important part of my treatment -- counseling was what helped me the most. Therapists are professionally trained individuals, and can help in a variety of different ways. My counselor worked with me to look at what I was thinking during the episodes of anxiety and panic, and how that affected the course of the attack. She also helped me to look at my life from a high-level perspective and helped me determine several different ways that could help me cope with stress effectively. Click this link for more information about my experiences with therapy and how it helped. Of course, once I developed an understanding of what was happening and how my thinking was able to trigger physical responses in my body, I wanted to further investigate. I began to ask myself what life situations or causes could be behind these feelings and experiences?
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