Most people are unaware of the magnitude of the disruption panic attacks bring to a patient suffering from them frequently. They do not understand what causes these attacks and why they are so terrible for the patient. Patients who suffer from panic attacks are unable to leave home or work. They are unable to handle specific situations or to tolerate the presence of specific objects around them. This can have a terrible influence on their daily life and is very hard on them.

Panic Attacks typically start with fear, worry or anxiety.

Normally everyone feels anxious some time or the other, but the patient with panic attacks experiences intense anxiety. Their emotions of anxiety, worry and fear get totally out of control. This fact causes them even more anxiety and gets converted into physical symptoms. They feel as if they are suffering from heart attack or some other critical medical problem like seizure. Physical symptoms represent a big indication in understanding panic attacks. Patients who suffer from a high state of fear, anxiety or worry feel their increased heartbeats, palpitations and a feeling of tightness in the chest. This worries them all the more because they feel they are facing much more than a fearful situation. Some neurological symptoms like uncontrollable shaking, jittering or twitching may also be exhibited. The patient literally shakes from terror and fear over the confronting situation. Other symptoms such as headaches, diarrhea, stomach upset, chills or hot flushes, nausea and other physical reactions may also manifest.

What causes these panic attacks?

The causes of panic attacks are varied and they are different for each individual. Chronic panic attacks may manifest as psychological disorders such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety, Phobia and such other anxiety disorders. Persons suffering from these disorders display an astoundingly higher level of anxiety than persons who are lucky not to suffer from these disorders.

Panic attacks may also be a result of underlying medical disorders like Thyroid Disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Migraines, some types of heart conditions and certain disorders which are anxiety provoking. Some of these will directly result in anxiety due to physiological reasons whereas others will cause anxiety as an outcome of the medical disorder. The patients with medical problems could be fearful of their deteriorating health or the medical problems may not allow them to undertake certain activities or reduce their capacity as compared to earlier times.

Panic attacks may also result from medications.

Many medications have side effects which result in restlessness, insomnia, nervousness and deep anxiety. The people who are prone to anxiety normally find that medication worsens their situation and makes it more difficult to achieve control over their feelings. If the medication prevents them from sleeping, it aggravates symptoms.

If you understand what panic attacks are, it will help you to assist a close friend or a member of the family who may be undergoing panic attacks regularly. It is important to understand that these people are neither going mad nor are they inventing the symptoms that are displayed. Panic attacks are terrible disorders which totally disrupt someone’s life. If you can encourage such a person to seek medical help to reduce these panic attacks frequency and severity, you would have done a lot to support him towards leading a normal life.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/mental-health-articles/panic-attacks-stop-scaring-yourself-709370.html

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Fear and anxiety are part of life. You may feel anxious before you take a test or walk down a dark street. This kind of anxiety is useful – it can make you more alert or careful. It usually ends soon after you are out of the situation that caused it. But for millions of people in the United States, the anxiety does not go away, and gets worse over time. They may have chest pains or nightmares. They may even be afraid to leave home. These people have anxiety disorders.

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder. It causes panic attacks, which are sudden feelings of terror for no reason. You may also feel physical symptoms, such as:

* Fast heartbeat
* Chest pain
* Breathing difficulty
* Dizziness

Panic attacks can happen anytime, anywhere and without warning. You may live in fear of another attack and may avoid places where you have had an attack. For some people, fear takes over their lives and they cannot leave their homes.

Panic disorder is more common in women than men. It usually starts when people are young adults. Sometimes it starts when a person is under a lot of stress. Most people get better with treatment. Therapy can show you how to recognize and change your thinking patterns before they lead to panic. Medicines can also help.

Anxiety can be quite detrimental to your appearance, your social life and sometimes your overall health. When it lasts for long periods of time, it becomes a serious issue that should be addressed by a medical professional. Like any other health problem, there are many causes that can lead to severe anxiety.

A major cause of anxiety can be genetics. Biology determines a great deal of how we are, from eye color to nose shape, and right down to the main core of our personality. If one or both of your parents tend to worry about things frequently, then chances are you will have the same reactions to situations. It is possible for this type of trait to skip generations, but more than likely whatever does not trickle down from heredity will catch with you from the nervous environment in which you live.

As alluded to before, your environment can heavily impact the amount of anxiety you may feel. But, even more than that, social pressures in your life can influence your personality, and cause you to be distressed about things you never thought you would worry about. Between work, children, pets, running a household and other such responsibilities, life can sometimes feel overwhelming.

When things are thrown at us all at once, many of us tend to go into survival mode. Feeling intense nervousness and experiencing worrisome behavior can actually be quite normal when we feel trapped under pressure.

Everyone experiences anxiety at one time or another ‘butterflies in the stomach’ before giving a speech or sweaty palms during a job interview are common symptoms. Other symptoms include irritability, uneasiness, jumpiness, feelings of apprehension, rapid or irregular heartbeat, stomachache, nausea, faintness, and breathing problems. Anxiety is often manageable and mild, but sometimes it can present serious problems. A high level or prolonged state of anxiety can make the activities of daily life difficult or impossible.

Since we often can trace the direct cause of our anxious behavior, the next step is to find ways to work through it. There is no point to going through life constantly feeling tense and worried. Over time, it will take its toll on you and you will find yourself feeling worn out and restless. Remember to take a step back, breathe, relax, and get plenty of rest. Everything falls into place. There is no need to worry about every little thing, because every little thing is going to be all right.

Sherry Harris
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/anxiety-what-is-panic-disorder-484143.html

Technorati Tags: Anxiety Help, Anxiety Therapy, anxiety treatment, panic attack treatment, panic attacks

Anxiety and anxiety related illnesses are on the rise.

With the stresses of home, work, school, children, war and the economy anyone would feel pressure. When enough anxiety builds, it can cause a lack of mental alertness, mental illness, physical illness and a whole host of other issues. The core issue however starts out as anxiety. It is therefore necessary to find ways to relieve anxiety before it can build. On way is through the practice of Yoga. Yoga poses, breathing techniques and the benefits of yoga can help relieve anxiety and promote a positive and calm outlook.

Yoga therapy and anxiety

In recent years, yoga therapy and anxiety has been a topic of conversations for many people both professionals and those who are looking for ways to relieve anxiety. Some professionals have even created specific yoga for anxiety programs. These yoga for anxiety programs use specific yoga poses for anxiety, that is to say they contain a grouping of poses, which have the yoga benefits of anxiety relief. These various programs use yoga equipment for many of them some do not.

Some of the positions and poses that research shows to work with yoga and anxiety are the standing prayer breath, Seated Yoga Mudra, and Breathing Meditation. These three poses are the basics that will promote the relief of anxiety. The best time to learn these poses is when you are already relaxed. Breathing needs to be steady, slow and deep, this will help promote the feeling of relaxation and help your body to relax.

The standing prayer breath pose

In order to perform this pose stand with feet hip width apart and bring your hands together in a prayer position. As you raise your hands, inhale relaxing your shoulders into your back. Then exhale as you do, move your hands from the prayer position and sweep them down to your sides then back up to the original prayer hand position. Repeat somewhere between three and ten times depending on how much you want to do and how much time you have. Then reverse the breathing order and make each breath longer while your movements become slower.

The seated yoga Mudra pose

Kneel on the floor, keeping your spine straight, then sit back onto your heels. This can be slightly uncomfortable, if you find it so, place a pillow on your calves. You arms need to behind your back, you can either clasp them or hold something if clasping is not something easy for you, squeeze your shoulders together and lower towards your back. The next step is to exhale and bend forward as you exhale from your hips, keeping your back straight until your forehead touches the floor, hold for three to ten steady breaths.

The breathing meditation

This works great for relieving anxiety and creating a peaceful moment. Sit in a chair or on the floor, place your hands on your knees, close your eyes and breathe through your nose.

Kevin Pederson
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/overcome-your-anxiety-with-yoga-140590.html

Technorati Tags: Anxiety Help, Anxiety Therapy, anxiety treatment, panic attack treatment, panic attacks, yoga for anxiety

i get really nerveous at night and like i am losing control

You can get panic attacks anytime and they are scary. I suffered for years with them, please dont go down the tranquilisers route it’s VERY addictive. In the end I realised no one ever died from a panic attack and just tried to ignore them. It works do something to take your mind off them – even if it’s the ironing! Anything to distract yourself. Good luck hon, they will go if you can learn to ignore them

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Asthma attacks can escalate into panic attacks especially in children, who are less aware of what is happening to them. And of course the fear of having an asthma attack can in itself bring on a panic attack. The key is to break the cycle.

What to do when a child has an asthma or panic attack

As their chest tightens, the child starts to get tense, this exacerbates the tightness and a full-blown panic attack can ensue. For a parent or carer, the key is to treat the attack as a normal event and keep calm yourself, reassure the child and to ‘pace’ their breathing.

Start by breathing more heavily than you normally do – but not as heavily as the child, while keeping relaxed. Talk them through their breathing, gradually slowing your speech and your own breathing so if you have developed sufficient rapport, their breathing will become more slow, matching yours. 

Learn or teach self awareness to break the cycle

Adults and older children can learn self-awareness, so they can start to control the symptoms themselves. It helps if they can develop the ability to become slightly detached and observe themselves and their behaviour, rather than wholly being caught up in an ‘inside out’ view. Then they can pace themselves, reduce their breathing rate and remain calm while they wait for the attack to subside.

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