subject: Providing Help For Panic Attacks [print this page] Many people need help for panic attacksMany people need help for panic attacks. These can occur anytime of the day or night and can appear without warning. They can be so problematic that one may need to be rushed off to the emergency room of a hospital. This is because often the symptoms are mistaken for seizures or heart attacks.
Simply put this kind of attack is a response the body makes physiologically in response to anxiety or fear. It could be one is scared of a physical thing like a snake or non-physical like being scared of being stuck in an elevator. It can even be an imaginary thing or event. These often occur with no apparent trigger. These happen even though nothing has happened to cause one to start panicking.
This condition is a lot more common than most people would believe. It generally is more prevalent in females than in males. Some may experience these symptoms infrequently during times of stress; others could have a major episode. These may be chronic and can happen a number of times per week or even every day.
Should this occur then one should consult with a doctor right away. While this condition itself is harmless, the doctor needs to exclude any serious pathology. Two such conditions that warrant exclusion are heart disease and any thyroid problem.
When the doctor has eliminated any serious pathology, he or she will then attend to the panic attacks. Questions will be asked about how and when the symptoms began. Depending on the answers the doctor may then make a conclusive diagnosis.
The deciding factor when making a firm diagnosis is the frequency of attacks. The key deciding criteria is that there has to be at least three attacks within a three-week period. These must be in response to non life-threatening situations and there must be no life-threatening problem facing the patient. The best way to describe this is as a severe feeling of fear.
It is for this reason that many people who suffer this for the first time report to the emergency room. This is because the symptoms can mimic a coronary thrombosis. These attacks however do not cause or precipitate the onset of a coronary thrombosis.
One should see a doctor if these symptoms are experienced. Once the diagnosis has been confirmed one can be assured that this condition can be managed. It also gives peace of mind that there is no serious pathology.
When the brain incorrectly interprets an event as being life threatening, one will have an attack of this nature. People have one of two responses in situations like this, flight or fight. Either way a panic attack can be present.
One instance is where there is clearly no danger present and the other is when there is over reaction to a certain situation. For some inexplicable reason some people are genetically predisposed to responding in this way. This is when the attack becomes evident.
People who experience this should take comfort in the knowledge that there is help for panic attacks. A doctor will be able to prescribe medication. Other techniques that work are exercise and relaxation techniques. Both of these will help one to manage the condition in a positive way.
