Panic attacks are associated with intense and sudden feelings of fear, anxiety and overwhelm. This happens due to the quick and sudden release of adrenaline into our body. The release of adrenaline helps the body respond and prepare to face dangerous situations. Even though this is in essence a survival mechanism, it can be negative if this response happens too frequently and unnecessarily.
Panic attacks are not caused by specific external triggers. A person with panic attacks may be doing something that he or she usually does, like going to the bank, cycling or taking an elevator and suddenly get hit by a panic attack. It just seems to come out of nowhere.
The mind will start to believe that the worst things possible will happen regardless of how unlikely it is. Images of the plane crashing, the elevator failing or other crazy situations will fill the mind. Feelings of paranoia and suspicion will also take over.
There are no specific external triggers for panic attacks. Panic attacks can come over someone no matter when and where. There are no actual ways to completely avoid it. This is why people who are suffering from panic attacks are greatly affected by it and find it difficult to live their daily lives.
To deal with a panic attack, the most effective method is to face it head on. Don't resist and fight against the panic attack. Rather, try to face it with courage, accept it and allow it to run through it's course. Here are the reasons why doing this is a good method.
The first reason is because fear feeds on fear. The more fear you show and let out, the stronger the panic attack becomes. What happens when you are resisting or avoiding a panic attack? You are showing fear and giving the panic attack more energy. Thus the panic attack will be even more intense and last longer.
When you resist something, it will usually only make things worse. Take the example a roller coaster ride. If you go along with the movement of the roller coaster, it will feel exhilarating. That is why people love to lift up their hands when the roller coaster dives downwards sharply. However, when you try to resist and go against the roller coaster, you will feel even more frightened and tense.
The second reason is because whenever you avoid or resist panic attacks, you are just continuously running away from it. Because of this you will never be able to experience and realize that there is actually no danger or harm in the situation.
Coming through a panic attack unharmed, unscathed and totally safe will change your feelings and perceptions towards panic attacks. The experience will give you the realization that the panic attacks you experienced are just the result of your illusions of danger. That is what it is, just illusions. You will know that there isn't any real danger. By having this experience and understanding, you will be able to face future panic attacks with more courage and confidence. That will be the start of the road to recovery.
Anxiety & Panic Attacks
Very little progress is possible in dealing with anxiety panic attack and agoraphobia without addressing diet. In fact many professionals believe that addressing diet is the total cure for overcoming panic and anxiety. However, I'v learned that other factors such as personality, understanding the general adaptation syndrome, methods of dealing with disappointment, understanding the difference between observation and conclusion... are also important to deal with in detail. This program produced results of 80% success rate for those suffering from anxiety panic attack and agoraphobia.
So let's begin with diet. Diet is the foundation of improvement and without it we can not expect any improvement--absolutely none.
A high refined carbohydrate diet consisting of bagels, rolls, breads, cakes, coffee and sodas containing caffeine is the biggest mistake that can be made. Why?
Simply because refined sugars from these types of foods easily break down to blood sugar causing a rapid rise of blood sugar--as much as 50 calories/minute. For years this may not be a problem, but eventually it's like crying "wolf." This rapid increase in blood sugar is sensed by the pancreas which counters it with the creation of insulin to reduce the blood sugar. Under normal conditions the blood sugar would stabilize, however, after years and years the system is overtaxed and causes an over abundance of insulin to be created. This over abundance causes the blood sugar to drop too low which is the condition known as hypoglycemia.
If you do any internet search for hypoglycemia you'll find a page full of symptoms which include jitteriness, nervousness, shortness of breadth, anxiety, increased heart rate, palpitations... which is why many professionals treat anxiety with diet alone. And if it were not for other learned complications such as months and perhaps years--even decades--of conditioning dietary correction might well be all that's required.
Conditioning? Pavlov did the initial experiments in conditioning. Every time he fed the dog, he rang a bell. And then, after a period of trials (conditioning) he only rang the bell (no food) and the dog salivated just as it did when given food. Thus the bell became the conditioned response. Likewise, every time the anxiety response was triggered by hypoglycemia, there were surrounding physical and mental stressors so that eventually just thinking about the possibility of an anxiety attack (the bell) brings on an anxiety attack.
Never the less, diet is the first thing to correct. Start by eliminating all forms of white?white bread, bagels, rolls, cakes, white potatoes, white processed rice, sugar. And of course stay away from anything with caffeine. Avoid fructose. I would not suggest artificial sweeteners in their place. If you're looking for a zero calorie sweetener, stevia, an herb from Paraguay, is the best natural sweetener and is available in health food stores everywhere.
Eat nuts, meats, eggs, non processed cheese, vegetables, and consume only breads made of whole grains. Use natural sweeteners such as honey sparingly. And at first, avoid consuming more than one portion of fruit a day. Minimize consumption of cold cuts.
Because you may have nutritionally stressed your body, I recommend a multivitamin such as RainBow Light's Complete Nutritional System--available in most health food stores or you can order from my website at a discount.
Minerals have likewise been depleted--especially calcium. The best calcium/mineral supplement is in ionic form such as a product called Xooma Coral Calcium also available through my website.
In summary, nutrition is where you start. The next challenges are to learn to handle life's disappointments because how one's personality is oriented leaves one emotionally at a loss in dealing with disappointment. It's actually the desire to escape disappointments which when symptoms are experienced accelerate and contribute to activation of the general adaptation syndrome (GAS) activating the flight response. Dvd/cd programs for the professional working with panic and anxiety are available through the website.
Both Ethan Beh & Richard Kuhns are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Ethan Beh has sinced written about articles on various topics from Personal Development Plan, Panic Attacks and Health. Author Ethan Beh is a Want to improve your life? Author and self improvement enthusiast who has spent many years seeking, learning and practicing the best
