What Makes Anxiety Treatments Effective?
There are anxiety treatments to treat panic attacks and panic disorder. Self-help strategies or a series of therapy sessions are common anxiety treatments. One of the most common anxiety treatments is cognitive behavioral therapy. It focuses on the thinking patterns and behaviors that are sustaining or triggering the panic attacks. Cognitive behavioral therapy helps you to focus on these patterns and behaviors in a more realistic light, thereby making the attack less terrifying.
Another of the most common treatments is exposure therapy for panic disorder. This is where you are exposed to the physical sensations of panic in a safe and controlled environment. This allows you to better learn ways of coping with panic when you do experience a panic attack. Hyperventilating, shaking your head side to side, and holding your breath are common examples that are used in exposure therapy for panic disorder. If you have agoraphobia, a fear of being in a situation where escape would be difficult or embarrassing, or being in a place where you could not get help easily, exposure therapy for panic attacks will also expose you to these situations to help lessen and eventually eliminate the panic you experience from being in these situations. This will help you gain better control over your emotions.
Instead of the aforementioned anxiety treatments, medication treatments can be used to temporarily control or reduce some of the symptoms of panic disorder, but they do not treat or resolve the underlying problem. Medication can be used in severe cases of panic attacks or panic disorder, but additional treatments should be used in conjunction with it. These treatments usually include therapy and lifestyle changes that directly address the underlying problem that is causing the panic attacks.
The medications that are often used to help treat panic attacks and panic disorder include antidepressants and benzodiazepines. Antidepressants usually take several weeks in order to work, thereby necessitating that you take them even when you're not experiencing a panic attack. Benzodiazepines are anti-anxiety drugs that usually work within 30 minutes to 1 hour in order to relieve symptoms, but they are highly addictive and have intense withdrawal symptoms, so they should only be used with extreme caution.
While anxiety treatments can be quite effective in reducing and eliminating panic attacks, there are many actions you can take to help yourself as well. One thing you can do in addition to anxiety treatments is to learn about panic itself. Read everything you can about panic disorder, anxiety, and the fight-or-flight response that you experience during a panic attack. This will convince you that the sensations and emotions you feel during an attack are normal and not signs that you are going crazy.
Another thing you can do in addition to various treatments is to avoid caffeine and smoking. Both of these can cause people who are susceptible to panic attacks to experience them. Therefore, avoid coffee, caffeinated beverages, and cigarettes. You should also be aware of medications that act as stimulants, including non-drowsy cold medications and diet pills. A third thing you can do in addition to anxiety treatments is to learn to control your breathing. Deep breathing can help to counteract hyperventilation that you will often experience during a panic attack. The skill of deep breathing will also enable you to more easily cope with a panic attack when it comes upon you and also lessen the chances of creating the very sensations that trigger your panic episodes.
A fourth thing you can do in addition to anxiety treatments is to practice relaxation techniques. Activities such as yoga, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation strengthen the body's relaxation response, the opposite of the anxiety and panic you experience in a panic attack. An added benefit of practicing relaxation techniques is that you will experience feelings of joy and equanimity.
Therefore, anxiety treatments are your best option for ridding yourself of panic attacks and/or panic disorder. However, it's not the only option - medical treatments and self-help strategies can also be quite helpful in aiding your anxiety treatments. It is important to identify the root cause of the problem and know and implement the appropriate anxiety treatment to truly eliminate the panic episodes and panic disorder you are dealing with. Otherwise, the anxiety treatments and other treatment methods will not be as effective as they could be.
Identifying the reason(s) for your panic attacks or panic disorder is critical to knowing what anxiety treatments you should employ in order to relieve and even eliminate your panic attacks or panic disorder. At that point, you should employ the appropriate anxiety treatments (even combining two or more categories from standard, medication, and self-help categories) in order to receive the maximum amount of benefits and relief from your anxiety treatments.
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