Natural Methods For Treating Anxiety And Panic Attacks

A panic attack is a frightening experience. It often begins with an unexpected, unexplainable feeling of fear, and then intensifies, adding other symptoms along the way, such as feelings of suffocation or choking, , dizziness, chest pain, losing control, lightheadedness, or that you’re having a heart attack or going crazy. Prescription medication treatments are commonly used in addressing anxiety disorders (panic attacks and anxiety attacks are the same thing), but a lot of these drugs can generate symptoms and many of them are addictive; worse, the attacks come back when these drugs are withdrawn. Fortunately, several natural treatments for anxiety disorders are available that are used by psychologists and psychiatrists alike and are sometimes used (and sometimes not) as an adjunct to pharmaceutical drugs to help treat to anxiety disorders.

Methods that are frequently used to control the signs of a panic attack include: deep breathing techniques, avoiding caffeine, and eating a healthier diet. As a stimulant, caffeine can make you irritable, edgy, and anxious. Avoidance of it and consuming highly nutritious meals can help you sleep and feel better. To avoid hyperventilation, performing certain breathing exercises can help calm you down during panic attacks. They are effective ways that can help you control panic attacks, although they still only treat the symptoms and not the source of the condition itself.

A therapy known as “Tapping” works in treating anxieties by bearing pressure to acupoints and tapping then these points in a certain way to free the bad chi  (negative energy) generated by negative thoughts. This therapeutic technique is used by some therapists since they believe it works really well and faster than other natural therapies.

In the treatment of panic attacks, hypnosis was recognized by the AMA (American Medical Association) as a valid form of treatment more than 50 years ago. This type of natural therapy can substantially relieve panic attacks but unfortunately cannot cure anxiety disorders.

Interestingly, laughter is considered a natural treatment for panic attacks. Humor removes the adverse emotions related to panic attacks by decreasing the levels of stress hormone in your body. Humor visualization methods make the patient imagine and remember a period when the patient was laughing uncontrollably. He again imagines this memory when he feels the coming of a panic attack. If this memory can make him laugh, it can help stop his anxious feelings and panic attack.

Desensitization is a gradual process that can make victims of panic disorder resistant to situations and things they are afraid of that can set off a panic attack. It has proven to be effective in stopping anxiety disorder and its symptoms. Psychologists or psychiatrists place the patient in a location or situation that usually triggers panic attacks or fear for just a few minutes. The patient is often accompanied by a person he trusts. The support person often accompanies the patient just the first time. The amount of time increases each time the patient repeats the experience, until he can eventually deal with it on his own, without experiencing a panic attack. This technique has proven to work very well for phobias and other anxiety-related conditions.

But the most successful and widely used known natural treatment for panic attacks and anxiety disorders by far is CBT or Cognitive Behavior Therapy. This therapy makes use of tools such as in vivo methods techniques and cognitive restructuring to treat and sometimes totally cure panic attacks and anxiety disorders. Cognitive restructuring instructs the patient on how to modify his thinking in response to panic symptoms. “In real life,” (In vivo), exposure to places and things that sets off a fear reaction makes people learn to face their fears. This technique is quite similar to desensitization therapy. In vivo and cognitive restructuring combined can help treat panic attacks and change the way they behave and think in fearful situations. Professionals admit that CBT may not work for all people but for those who do, it has provided some relief from their panic attacks.

Health Source Acupuncture
401 New Rd #211
Linwood, NJ 08221
Phone: (609) 248-6922
www.healthsourceacupuncture.com