Panic Attacks!

Increased heart rate, elevated blood pressure, dizziness, shaking, diarrhea, headaches, blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, hyperventilation, fainting and even temporary Necrophobia (fear of impending death).

If you have ever had a panic attack, or have them regularly you will know how devastating they can be to your otherwise pleasant day. They can be so terrifying not only to the person experiencing the attack, but also to anyone you are with or near, who does not understand what is happening. Loved ones find it hard to deal with, since there is nothing that can be said during the event which conveys any feeling of reassurance. Panic attacks are real and are generally bought about by a shock such as a car accident, the sudden death of a loved one or even a fear of thunderstorms as a child.

Primary And Secondary Causes:

Occasionally, a person will seek help in dealing with such attacks, and will relay their assumptions as to why they are happening. One would assume if the problem was known, the attacks could be dealt with, but this rarely happens. In an example, a person blames their panic attacks on a fear of flying, and so a series of panic attacks occur before the journey; from the time they know they are going, until they arrive at their destination. That is, if they can manage to even get on the plane!

The fear of flying is very common, and is a phobia itself which can be treated readily. However, the panic attacks associated with it are a separate issue. Oddly enough, the primary source of fear may not even be a fear of flying. Remembering the above statement, that as a child the person may have been frightened by an earth tremor, the traffic accident, the thunderstorm or even falling and being hurt; is is evident that the fear of flying is the secondary cause, whilst another component mentioned which has mostly left one's memory, is the initial sensitizing event - the primary cause. As a result, the event which spawned the problem has not been confronted, and blame lays where there is no problem at all - a fear of flying! Age regression therapy can be used to unearth this initial event so it can be dealt with. The fear it caused at the time it occurred can be resolved in one's mind to a point where it is no longer seen as a danger. Remembering that it probably happened when the person was a child - looking at it from an adult perspective won't be so scary.

Important Reasons To Seek Help:

There are medications which can be taken to help in reducing the frequency of panic attacks. Some antidepressant medications can help not only with depression, but these attacks as well. I highly suggest that if you have panic attacks to seek help for these specifically, and not allow it to become such a large part of your life that it leads to feelings of futility and depression. This will require a whole different approach and can greatly affect your life in other ways.

Phobias And Panic Attacks:

Most people are phobic about one or more things, but panic attacks can lead to the onset of additional more disruptive phobias. If you have a fear of spiders it doesn't necessarily lead to you locking yourself away in your home for fear of encountering one on your shopping day. But ,worrying you will be in public and have a panic attack can result in having no desire to be out in public due to the embarrassment it may be for you if you have one in the grocery store. Ultimately you will stay in your own home more and more, until you are unable to leave it at all. Here is where a new problem occurs; Agoraphobia, the fear of being out in the open, in public, in large crowds, the parking lot, at the store, etc. and Socio-phobia, perhaps making some outlandish excuse for not being able to attend your own sister's wedding!

You can now see how a chain reaction of problems, each more serious than the one before it, are taking place. The fear of loss of control, resonating from any event can cause panic attacks and they can last your whole life. Fortunately they can be easily treated. Don't let panic attacks ruin your life, do something about it or they certainly will. Discover the issue that caused the attacks and remove that fear. Having done this, if you do happen to have an attack in future you will then be able to cope with it far more easily. They will become less frequent and less frightening. Once you have removed the element of anticipation that you might have an attack, it is highly possible that you will ever have one again.