by Hannah Leichstein

Created on: March 28, 2010

Panic attacks are mysterious and terrifying. They literally paralyze you with fear, both during the attack and afterwards.

Physical symptoms of an attack can include: heart palpitations, chest pains, sweating, tremors, hyperventilation, shortness of breath, feelings of choking, tunnel vision, numbness or tingling, chills or hot flashes, nausea, and dizziness. Psychological symptoms may include: intense fear, feeling like you are going crazy or going to die, and feelings of detachment from oneself or from reality. Panic attacks typically last between 10-15 minutes. They come suddenly and without much warning, and end just as quickly.

Many victims of a panic attack are left bewildered, not knowing what has just happened to them. First-time sufferers may seek treatment in the emergency room, thinking that they are having a heart attack. When this is the case, the doctors generally find nothing wrong, and send the victim home with nothing but uncertainty and a huge bill. Occasionally, the same person might come into the same emergency room with the same symptoms, and a doctor might recognize it as panic disorder. In that case, the patient is referred to psychiatric care.

Perhaps even more disabling than the panic attack itself, however, is the fear of having another one. A victim of an attack may start to avoid places or situations in which an attack has occurred, or where s/he thinks one might occur. Left unattended, this can develop into agoraphobia (meaning fear of open spaces). Agoraphobia is a serious mental illness in which a person avoids places from which escape might be difficult or embarassing. In extreme cases, s/he may be too afraid to even leave the house.

Despite the intensity of the attacks, however, there is no physical damage done during an attack. You are not actually going to die, or go crazy, or have a heart attack. The problem is purely psychological. What's more, there are lots of ways to treat panic disorder.

The first steps of treatment are usually to determine what the cause of your panic attacks are. Some causes may include: stressful or crisis situations, phobias, or medications. The cause may be psychological, i.e. negative "what-if" thinking, or lack of assertiveness. It's possible that you are genetically predisposed to having panic attacks.

Whatever the cause may be, your therapist will most likely recommend anxiety medication such as Paxil or Xanax, and in addition begin Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT works by identifying trains of thought that are likely to cause a panic attack, and changing or stopping those thoughts.

Your therapist will also instruct you in ways to prevent an attack before it even starts. The most common taught practice is to control and concentrate on one's breathing. Breathing should be slow, deep, and deliberate. How do you know if you are taking a deep breath or not? Place your finger over your navel and breathe in. If your stomach rises and falls with your breath, you are breathing deeply. Each breath should take 2 seconds to inhale, hold for 1 second, then 2 seconds to exhale. Repeat this process until you feel at ease.

Having suffered from panic attacks myself, I can personally vouch for the effectiveness of CBT and the breathing exercise. First of all, just understanding the disorder helped tremendously. With therapy I was able to identify my triggers and learn to avoid them without it affecting my ability to function. I have not had a single attack in over a year.

Learn more about this author, Hannah Leichstein.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.