subject: What Causes Panic Attacks And How To Overcome Them [print this page] Looking for an answer to what causes panic attacks? You've came to the right place. Here, you'll discover the causes, treatments, and, the key element you must address in order to overcome your panic attacks and cure your general anxiety.
Opinion varies about what actually causes panic attacks, at least at what the root cause is. But there is a broad belief that they may be caused by one or more of the following; stress, family history of anxiety and attacks, traumatic life experiences, major life changes, underlying medical conditions, even some medications.
Treatment for panic attacks is usually by prescribed medications such as anti-depressants, tranquilizers and beta-blockers. These can work very well for a lot of anxiety and panic attack sufferers, but they do have several very bad side effects, including dependency.
But there are other non-drug therapies such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), exposure therapy, counselling, support groups, etc. Often, these are combined with drug treatment as well. And there are other natural treatments such as hypnosis, self-hypnosis, acupuncture, yoga, etc.
All in all, the treatments above are very good for helping you cope with, and manage, your condition. But what about actually getting rid of your panic attacks for good?
Let's look at a very important issue in your fight to prevent anxiety / panic attacks and get rid of anxiety. A key element in all of this is your 'fear' of having another attack. And this is perfectly understandable because the symptoms of an attack are so horrifying that you don't want to experience another. You may be fully aware of this fear, or it could just be a subconscious fear, nevertheless it's there.
Now, as an anxiety attack sufferer, you're highly likely to have higher than normal general anxiety and stress. Basically, you are in a place where you constantly worry and stress about things in a way that is totally out of kilter with their significance. All it then takes is a stressful event or situation, such as having a job interview, to add to your already high anxiety levels and push you over the top into an anxiety attack.
And this occurs because your body has 'read' your sudden elevated anxiety levels as a signal that you are in danger. What happens is that your body triggers its in-build 'fight or flight' response to help you in what it 'perceives' as a dangerous situation. Except, there isn't one, and you know there isn't one, which is why you get confused at the changes happening in your body, and so start to believe that something is seriously wrong with you, like a heart attack, for example.
Now, here's the thing, your very fear of having another attack can provide the additional anxiety that can trigger an actual attack. This is a vicious cycle of - anxiety - fear - panic attack - anxiety - fear - panic attack, and so on. You need to break out of this vicious cycle in order to prevent panic attacks and then be better able to address and cure your general anxiety. You do this by meeting your fear head-on (see below).
