How to Avoid Panic Attacks

If you want to learn how to avoid panic attacks then you first have to do a little learning about what they really are.

Panic attacks generally fall under the phrase "medical condition"

It's with this condition that you can experience sudden outbursts which can happen anywhere.

You'll sometimes experience unprovoked fear for no real reason at all. The feeling will just take over your body and put you in a state of mind where it can be impossible for you to do anything constructive.

It might also come across as the feeling of dying. Many people have reported having this feeling when having a panic attack.

Now having said that about these situations, here are some things you can do to avoid having the attack.

One of the things you can do that works really well is to do relaxation techniques.

Preferably progressive relaxation. This is where you tense the muscles of your body one by one until you have released all of the tension from you body.

You could also try using a simple distraction technique. With this you want to put your mind on something else besides whats causing you the fear. It could be something like just counting down from 100 when you feel like an attack is coming.

Another relaxation tactic is the use of deep breathing.

I can say this one works for sure because I've used it myself. I would inhale for a count of ten and exhale for a count twelve.

Doing that always relieve me of any tension I might be holding onto.

Focusing on what you can control and not on the things that you have no control over is another fantastic way of avoiding panic attacks.

These of course are not an end all list, but more of a starting point. You can find even more ways to avoid having panic attacks by going here.

How to Overcome Debilitating Social Anxiety

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
According to Wikipedia's article on social anxiety, some 13.3% of the population will suffer from it at some point in their lives. Obviously, there are degrees along this continuum, from shyness to debilitating panic at the mere thought of a social situation. This article will be primarily focused on the latter.

Steps

1. Understand the menace that you're facing: anxiety. What causes it? Is it social situations of a particular sort? Conversing with the opposite sex? Giving a public speech? Or is it anything and everything that puts you in the eyesight of another human being? Be clear about what specific events trigger anxiety.
2. Understand what responses you have become habituated to doing when you become anxious in a social situation. (I call these defense mechanisms, but they might have a different term in psychological textbooks) I used to sweat, for instance. As well, many people shut down, and stop talking to people. This can lead to a vicious circle in settings like a cocktail party, where you feel anxious, so you shut down, and then you feel even more anxious because you're standing there alone.
3. So, to synthesize the first two steps, you know what causes your anxiety (at least you have an idea of the general situations in which it arises), and you know how you react to escape those situations. This is when you mark out your battle plan for attacking this damn anxiety head on! What I advocate--and this worked the best for me--is a brutal routine of exposure therapy that doesn't let up until you're anxiety free. That said, it's not as "brutal" as I said, and it uses slow increments to gradually change you from being anxious in social situations to being calm, collected, and having fun in them. So, here goes! Write down a battle plan of maybe ten or so difficult social situations for you to be in.
4. Once you've got your list of ten (more or less, depending on what you feel like doing) tasks to challenge your anxiety, then you should try and rank them from least to most intimidating. Perhaps, if you're most afraid of trying to converse with a stranger, that should go pretty high up on your list, towards the end. Going out for a walk and saying "hi" to passers by (and maybe, if you're ambitious, talking to them for a bit!) might be an example of something a little bit lower.
5. Now, how exposure therapy works is that you should start slowly with the situation that you expect won't give you very much trouble at all. Maybe a casual walk around the block might do it. Now, get to it, and start walking!
6. While you're on your first exposure therapy, make a mental note of how you're doing in terms of social anxiety, and take a periodical measure of your anxiety on a one to ten scale. Stay out in the situation, "exposing" yourself for about forty-five minutes or so. By the conclusion of this exposure, you should recognize a significant drop in your anxiety levels. This is good! Keep up the good work!
7. Now, are you ready to go onto the next levels up? Well, not so fast...how did you feel with the first exposure? Did you feel slightly anxious at the end of the session? Somewhat anxious? Or totally calm? Unless you said "yes" to the third question, I'd recommend you do the same exercise again, until you feel completely at ease in the situation. Then, and only then! Progress to the next rungs higher up.
8. Keep following this plan of exposures to progressively higher anxiety-provoking situations until you reach the summit of being calm and collected in what you used to think was so flipping scary. Hopefully, with enough time and practice you will achieve the phenomenal success that I have felt from using this simple technique. Good luck, and never forget that you aren't the only one that's dealing with these issues. I'm one of them, and there are many, many more of us out there!

Tips

• Meditation and/or deep breathing relaxation practices may help you with exposure therapy.
• The whole point of exposure therapy is to expose oneself to an anxiety-provoking situation, and then stay in that situation until the defensive mechanisms and anxiety subside. The technical reasoning behind this is that socially anxious people have paired social situations-->anxiety. This is broken by this practice...after you do it frequently enough, the new pair is formed whereby social situations-->calmness and fun.
• When you get into the higher steps of exposure therapy, it isn't uncommon for there to be significant anxiety that hinders your ability to want to stay in the situation. Regardless of these feelings, try to maintain control with deep breathing and relax for a brief moment. Stay in the social situation, and the anxiety will gradually dissipate.
• My last word is that I wish you all the best of luck. I understand the pain, the feelings of isolation, and the loneliness that social anxiety can bring. But these techniques have worked wonders for me...and I know that if you really put your best foot forward, they will do the same for you.
• PS Cognitive and Behavioral Therapies have a tremendous wealth of information on helping to solve dysfunctional thoughts and behaviors. I've left it out, but I truly think that it would be a good idea for you all to check out a book by Aaron T. Beck or someone prominent in the field and see if it might help you out even more. That said, I truly believe that exposure therapy is the best way to rectify social anxiety, bar none.

Things You'll Need

• Courage to face your fears

Related wikiHows

• How to Reduce Stress With Affirmations
• How to Be Good Natured and Loving
• How to Stop Being a Constant Worrier
• How to Bring Severe Social Anxiety Under Control

Sources and Citations

• http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/
• http://www.social-anxiety.org.uk/frontpage.php

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Overcome Debilitating Social Anxiety. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Panic Attack Symptoms

If you've ever had a panic attack then you already know just how scary it can be as well as how powerless you can feel when it comes to ending them.

However, most people who suffer from panic attacks can't even tell you what the symptoms of the panic attack are.

Often the symptoms are confused with phobias.

I've listed some of the most common panic attack symptoms for you to learn how to correctly identify when you're starting to have an attack.

The first signs of a panic attack often include a feeling of your chest tightening and a rapid heart rate.

You will often have racing thoughts throughout your brain which will often cause you to panic and worry about the simplest of things.

During a panic attack, you'll likely start shaking, and you also might not be able to find a comfortable position sitting or lying. A tingling sensation in your fingers or toes that feels as though someone is poking you with a lot of small needles sometimes accompanies panic attacks. Some parts of your body might go numb, and you may also start to forget how to do simple tasks.

 

Several symptoms that originate with your abdomen or your digestive system often arise during a panic attack. You might begin to develop severe and shooting abdominal pains that do not go away. You could develop abdominal cramps, and you may even develop a feeling of nausea that could develop into vomiting

Other symptoms of a panic attack include the throat becoming dry and tight, and you might find it extremely difficult to swallow. Excessive sweating, the chills or hyperventilation often accompany a panic attack. You may begin to feel chest pains, and you could also begin to experience severe headaches.

For even more information about Panic Attack Symptoms then read on.

How to Cure Panic Attacks

Have you ever wondered if there was a cure for panic attacks?

Well the answer is actually yes.

In fact it won't take as nearly long as you might think it would take to cure your panic attacks. With just  a little focused effort you can have your attacks under control and never worry about being embarrassed ever again.

The solution lies in the way you look at the treatment of your panic attacks.

If you can only look at them as being something to be treated with medicine then you will never get rid of them.

However, on the flip side of that..if you look at it from the standpoint of that you already have the power to stop the attacks dead in their tracks once you have a simple method to follow....then curing your panic attacks becomes a hundred times as easier.

Just in case you don't have your own proven method for curing your panic attacks then I have some good news for you.

Forget about going to the doctor for help, the method that you're about to get has been proven to work on over 148,000 people in it's short time that it's been available to the public.

Read this for more info and to learn about how to cure panic attacks then read the info here.

How To Overcome Panic Attacks

If you have anxiety, panic attacks, or a phobia of any kind, then the list below is probably all too familiar to you…

• Feeling constantly on edge, like your anxiety is stalking you and could pounce at any time.
• Scary, anxious thoughts running through your head that you just can’t seem to slow down or stop.
• Feeling like you’re about to lose control and do something dangerous or embarrassing, wondering if the next time you’ll be strong enough to keep it contained.
• Getting light headed or dizzy and feeling like you’re going to pass out or faint.
• Feeling disconnected from reality and spacey, almost like you’re in a dream.
• Feeling trapped in situations you can’t ‘escape’ from…things like driving, restaurants, social functions, or even standing in line at the store!
• Worrying you’ll stop breathing because your chest and throat feel so tight and you can’t seem to slow your breathing.
• Feeling depressed about how small your world has gotten.
• Going to the hospital or doctor fearing a heart condition or other emergency to have them find nothing physically wrong with you.

 The one thing you have to keep in mind when you're dealing with panic attacks is this.

You can overcome them.

They aren't permanent.

 You need to ask yourself what would your life be like if you didn't have the panic attacks.

Here is just a small list of what it could be like in just a few minutes from now:

• What would you do if you KNEW you could handle it? What would you attempt if you had nothing to fear?
• How would it be to stop the scary, anxious, thoughts that run through your head all day and finally quieting your mind?
• What if you didn’t care how far you were from home or your "safe place"?
• It’s a world of difference socializing with people and never wondering if you might have to make up an excuse to leave unexpectedly because of your anxiety.
• What if travel wasn’t so hard? If you could drive or fly wherever you wanted to, where would you go?
• What relationships would you start or improve?
• No more feelings of unreality or depersonalization…living in the NOW is really what life should be about.
• Could you finally pursue your dream job?
• Would you wake up in the morning looking forward to what the day holds instead of apprehension or fear?
• What kind of role model would your children have?
• No more waking up with anxiety and finally getting some rest.
• No more medications for anxiety with harmful or bothersome side effects.

Learn how to get your 4 step technique for overcoming panic attacks.