Anxiety and panic attack treatments recommended by doctors have been routinely handed out for years, and anyone suffering from panic attacks waste no time trying to put them into effect when they feel one coming on. After all, they have to do something to alleviate their fear and distress. But how well do they really work?
To illustrate an example of the typical panic attack treatments that people use to calm themselves during an event, try to imagine the following scenario:
You’re standing in line at the supermarket, waiting your turn, another chore in an ordinary day. Suddenly, you feel a familiar and unpleasant sensation in your throat, making your breath come in shorter gasps. A tightness forms in your chest, and your heart begins to beat erratically. You know this feeling. You dread this feeling. The more you begin to recognize and fear what is happening to you, the worse it gets: now you feel dizzy, you begin to tremble, and your stomach begins to cramp. Despite your whispered plea that you be spared this ordeal, you’re convinced it’s only a matter of seconds before you’re going to tip over into a full-blown panic attack. So in an effort to cope, you do what you’ve been taught to try to nip this crisis in the bud.
The first of the panic attack treatments you’ve been told to try is deep breathing exercises. You focus on breathing in through your nose, out through your mouth. You try to think relaxing thoughts, but it doesn’t seem to have the positive effect you’re hoping for. Just the fact that you’re concentrating on breathing makes you feel more embarrassed and stressed out.
The second of the panic attack treatments you try out is gradual muscle relaxation, another physical intervention. You tense your shoulders, holding the tension in for several seconds, and then relax. You do it a second time. A third time. Why isn’t this working? Your stress increases as you realize that this isn’t working, and coupled with the knowledge that you’re running out of ideas for how to cope, your fear begins to get the better of you.
You’ve reached the point where the last of your available panic attack treatments is to flee. The adrenaline is rushing through your system and you are filled with the conviction that this is it, this is the big one, you’re finally going to go nuts right here in the middle of the supermarket and completely lose control. You have no choice but to get out, quickly, immediately, so that at least you can fall apart in privacy.
In time, perhaps in 10, 20, 30, or 60 minutes, your panic will have gone and you can breathe easier. But you are still feeling terrible, and you are still without your groceries.
While there may by differences in physical and emotional feelings, intensity levels, or circumstances that trigger and attack, what’s described above is likely very familiar to those who live with panic and anxiety attacks. The conviction and fear that something terrible is about to occur is very real, very intense, and very overwhelming. It may be small comfort to the sufferers, but the fact is that they are by no means alone. It’s been estimated that something like 5% of the population are dealing with anxiety disorders in some form.
But if the panic attack treatments they’ve all learned to manage their symptoms aren’t doing the job, what’s left to try? Is there an alternative to simply suffering, or a lifetime of medication? Isn’t there a way to stop a panic attack before it starts, eliminating the need to cope with them, with little success, after the fact? The fact is, it’s entirely possible to put an end to the vicious cycle of panic attacks. It’s not another of those panic attack treatments that don’t work; it’s a method whereby the fear is eliminated by facing it squarely. We all know, deep in our hearts, that we can only conquer a fear by turning to look it in the face. No matter where we run, the fear will only follow. While it seems contradictory, the best of all panic attack treatments is to deliberately dare one to come.
In fact, it is possible to end the cycle of panic attacks. It involves a method of curing the fear by facing it head on. Deep down, we all know that the only way to overcome a fear is to turn and face it – if we continually run from it, it will only follow us. It may seem paradoxical, but the most effective of all panic attack treatments is to welcome an attack, even to hope for one to come.
If you voluntarily move toward an anxiety attack, instead of fighting to hold it off, the control begins to move back to you. You begin to wield the power over the situation, not your panic. You’ll learn that consciously choosing to experience and confront a panic attack renders it far less likely that you’ll even be able to have one. While you may understand on an intellectual level that a panic attack can’t hurt you, it’s only when you realize this emotionally that you will start becoming victorious over your demons. This technique will prove to you that you can face, confront, and conquer your fear.