Panic attacks are a class of anxiety disorders that constitute a complex and widespread symptomatological phenomenon. In Italy alone, it is estimated that at least 10 million people have experienced one or more panic attacks. It is not a serious disease, but you must learn to control it so as not to risk causing yourself harm.
The disorder usually begins in adolescence or early adulthood and has an incidence from two to three times higher in women than in men. However, this disorder is often not recognized and consequently not treated. Most people recover, while a significant minority develop recurrent panic disorder.
Panic attacks are sudden.
Usually, panic attacks do not show any warning signs, they manifest themselves in more or less intense episodes of anxiety, strong stress and a general sense of physical discomfort. Some describe the episode as a lightning-fast heart attack. The increase in heart rate creates several significant discomforts: shortness of breath, suffocation, nausea, disorientation, increased sweating and violent migraine headaches. The panic attack lasts about 10 minutes, very intense only in the first seconds and then loses its strength. However, not being able to control it, almost all people enter into a strong emotional state of agitation and fear.
Panic attacks are not a real disease, they are not physically dangerous but they can create further social disturbances. Young people, in particular, find it difficult to tell about their problems and often marginalize themselves from the group. Social humor today creates difficulties that outweigh the problems themselves. How can you make a friend understand that you can't go to the disco because you risk panic attacks? The fear is that if it should happen in public, someone will film you with your smartphone and publish you on Facebook. Well, in the modern era the real problem of panic attacks is the social isolation in which a young person is forced to take refuge.
Panic attacks, the causes.
The causes of anxiety disorders such as panic attacks are not fully known, but physiological and psychological factors are involved. From a physiological point of view, all thoughts and feelings can be conceived as resulting from electrochemical brain processes; however, this says little about the complex interactions between the more than 200 neurotransmitters and neuromodulators in the brain, as well as about normal and pathological anxiety and alarm status. From a psychological point of view, panic attacks are considered a response to environmental stressors, such as the interruption of a significant relationship or exposure to a potentially lethal disaster.
6 tips for dealing with panic attacks.
Is it possible to manage a panic attack? Not completely, but you can learn to control its symptoms and let it pass more quickly. The main fear when you are a victim of a panic attack is the loss of control over yourself and your surroundings. Being able to manage these basic factors can greatly help you to improve your social condition, and live a more peaceful life.
1. Slow breathing.
- At the first signs of anxiety or when hyperventilation begins, it is important to be able to control your breathing. One of the tips is the technique of slow breathing.
- Stop all activity, sit (even on the ground if you don't find anything better) or lean on something solid. Hold your breath by counting to 5. Exhale slowly from your nose and say a word that calms you (decide it first). Everything must be done calmly and quietly.
- Continue the exercise for several minutes until you have regained control of yourself. Breathe in effortlessly, and exhale slowly in cycles of five seconds. After a series of 10 complete breaths hold your breath again for 5 seconds and then start breathing again in cycles of 5 seconds. These exercises help to reduce anxiety if practiced consistently and will help you to understand how to deal with a panic attack.
2. Find a comfortable place.
Panic attacks can strike anywhere, although some are more plausible than others. Disco is more at risk than a park. However, you should not give up living your own life. Aware of the disturbance, it is important to know the strategic areas of the place where you are so that you can use them in the event of an attack. Once you have identified the "security" place, reach it and try to position your body in the most comfortable condition that the situation offers. Avoid the lying position that worsens the symptoms of the panic attack.
3. Only positive thoughts.
Study the techniques, words, phrases or thoughts that relax you. Associate them with pleasant events in your life. Rationalize reality, be aware that panic attacks are not dangerous or harmful to health. They are just problems related to anxiety disorders. Know the cause, don't be carried away by fear. However emotionally violent and unpleasant a panic attack may be, you can be sure that nothing bad will happen to you. Repeat this in your mind. Positive thoughts relax you and make everything more real.
4. Do not fight, but accept.
Panic attacks cannot be defeated, fighting or trying to oppose decisively can only aggravate the situation. Panic attacks need their own space and time to "vent". If we try to block them in a forced way, they will increase in intensity. The solution is to undergo attacks passively but in a controlled manner. Once you have learned the techniques to manage them, everything will be more natural and less traumatic. Fear will turn into awareness and "you will have defeated the disorder".
5. Do not run away from panic attacks.
Especially the first few times the panic attack can be very traumatic. The mind is trapped in a vortex of negative thoughts, the fear of dying is great. The most logical solution? Escape or move hysterically, without perceiving more where you are. Well, this is the worst reaction, the risk of being run over, falling or getting hurt is high. Once you've learned control techniques, you'll be much better at avoiding unpleasant accidents.
6. Don't let your life be conditioned.
Stop living, isolate yourself and close yourself in. These are the most common reactions of fragile people. Fear of exposing themselves to new panic attacks forces them to live in a physical and mental prison. Among other things, panic attacks can also occur in places we believe to be safe. Many people no longer frequent places where they may have had a panic attack, and they are terrified that it may happen again. This is wrong. There is no link between the place and the accumulated anxiety. On the contrary, by avoiding all the places that you consider dangerous, you are simply feeding new phobias. Fears fuel anxiety and enter a vicious circle that will slowly destroy your life.