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Panic attacks can be very frightening and exausting. The effects vary from person to person, but common elements are shortness of breath, dizziness, increased heart rate, blurred vision, tightness in the chest and tight painful muscles. Some people think they are going to faint. Others think that they are having a heart attack. Some people even believe that they are going to die. In fact (unless the individual has a blood phobia) fainting or collapsing during the panic attack is extremely likely. What is happening is that a slight, sound or smell has reminded the person of a previous traumatic event, and this trigger has been misinterpreted by the brain, setting up the person for a fight or flight reaction. As a result more oxygen is pumped to the muscles to prepare the person for action, leaving less going to the brain and so causing light-headedness and sometimes prompting to instinctively gasp for breath. Looked at in this way, the central feature of panic attacks can be seen as hyperventilation or "over-breathing". Individuals who suffer from panic attacks can become extremely hypervigilant, scanning their surroundings in search of possible threats to their well-being. How to overcome Panic Attacks is is understanding what is and what is not happening. Panic fuels more panic, and if a person is convinced that somthing catastrophic is happening to them a vicous cycle is set up. Instead it is helpful to remind oneself that:- "This is just a panic attack, it cannot actually harm me" and to practice controlling it. The best strategy for controlling panic involves the "3S's" Breathe Slowly Breathe Smoothly Breathe Shallowly This may take practice, as you need to establish what is the most comfortable rate of breathing for you, but as your breathing becomes more regular and controlled the panic will gradually subside. when you are feeling calmer and the panic has subsided, continue with what you were previously doing. Congradulate yourself, you have taken control of the panic! Another useful strategy is to keep a weekly diary of panic attacks, and score the severity of each one on a scale of 1-10. You may be suprised to find that some are much less severe that others. A helpful next goal, rather then seeking to avoid the occurrence of panic attacks, is to aim to reduce the severity of each attack by controlling your breathing. as you achieve this the fear associated with the panic attacks will lesson, and as a result they will become less frequent. Running away from the place or situation that has triggered the panic is an unhelpful coping strategy, although it produces a sence of relief at the time. In the longer term escaping or fleeing from a situation sets up an unhelpful avoidence pattern, avoidance being another symptom of PTSD. A more helpful strategy is to cognitively challenge the reason for the panic, which is difficult for a person to do on there own, but can be accomplished very successfully with the help of a Cognitive Behavioural Therapist. When you are overcomming panic it helps to re-establish your normal daily activities so as to allow less time for brooding and anticipation. In the middle of an attack it is easy to forget how to cope. Try writing your strategies on a card which you can carry with you. Practice them when you are feeling safe. Remember..you CAN control panic..panic need not control you!
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Post Traumatic Stress Sufferers and System abuse Victims Steering Group, Contact Chris Howells email Chris.Howells@NTLworld.com Deadlink or comments about this page E-mail the Webmaster :- AcE2115@icqmail.com or ICQ#104545519 |