Common Types of Panic Attack Therapy

Posted January 6th, 2010 by admin and filed in Cognitive Therapy
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Lots of people have used therapy to relieve panic disorders.  Since each person and their proglem is not the same, the amount of time the treatment can take to be effective can vary significantly.  Sometimes you may need to wait several months before you can start to see any results.

Patience is the most important factor when starting panic attack therapy.  One form of treatment may work for one person rather quickly, while a second person might need more time, or even a combination of different treatment types to improve their panic attacks.

Try to be flexible and don’t set specific goals for progress such as “I must recover in one month or else this method doesn’t work.”  This is a guaranteed way to frustrate yourself and ensure that you don’t experience results.  Give whichever treatment method you use a fair opportunity and give it time to show results.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a common and usually successful way to ease panic and anxiety disorders.  CBT is used to help people begin to alter their thinking and behaviors.  If you are seeking anxiety or panic attack therapy methods, it is very likely that you will encounter this in some form.

When you do CBT, you will probably work out a plan with your doctor.  You may be given homework to be done by yourself such as jotting down your individual goals that you will use to gradually expose yourself to scenarios that may trigger anxiety or panic attacks for you.  You will likely be keeping a journal to record your thoughts and feelings as well as a way of looking back to see your progress in your recovery.

Depending on your condition, you might also be given medication.  There are a good deal of medications for anxiety disorders out there that can be quite effective.  Medication, though is not an answer.  It just dials down your anxiety so that you can start to seek an effective recovery program.

Here are some good exercises you may be asked to do as part of your panic attack therapy regimen.  Please consult with your doctor though before you begin any of these on your own.  These tools are intended to mimic some of the physical symptoms of anxiety attacks so that you can get used to feeling them knowing that you are in full control of the situation and eventually desensitize yourself from them.

First, you might try to breath heavily for thirty seconds or so.  Most panic attacks begin with hyperventilation, so if you can begin to do this on your own, you can start to feel more relaxed and stop a panic attack in the future.

Also try spinning around several times to create a feeling of dizziness.  Dizziness is another common symptom of panic and anxiety disorders.

Run in place or take up an aerobic exercise routine to raise your heart beat and get used to that experience.

Anxiety attack therapy can be a useful way of treating anxiety disorders by slowly getting you accustomed to typical physical symptoms of a anxiety attack.  Again, it may take some time to see measurable progress in your recovery so stick with whatever program or form of therapy your doctor recommends.