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[P606]Pregnancy And Panic Attacks

by Amit Mehta, Ami

An official definition for panic attacks is as follows: Panic attacks are sudden and repeated surges of intense and overwhelming fear. They are often accompanied by physical symptoms like chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, or abdominal pain. Other physical symptoms associated with panic attacks include:

? chills or hot flashes
? nausea
? a feeling of choking
? sweating
? tingling and numbness in the hands
? shaking
? a rapid heart rate

Panic attacks can cause a feeling of desperation in those that experience them. Often those who have panic attacks feel as though they are going crazy or even dying during the attack. Doctors say this isn't unusual. Many of the physical symptoms experienced during panic attacks are the same or similar to symptoms of more serious diseases of the heart, lungs, intestines and nervous system.

Those who suffer panic attacks often go through repeated hospital or doctor visits before a correct diagnosis is made. A few even experience panic attacks for years before discovering that what they're experiencing is a real, treatable disease.

A person's chance of developing panic attacks is heredity. This means that someone's susceptibility to panic attacks is inherited. But even though the chance of experiencing panic attacks is beyond anyone's control, there are a few other serious conditions that can accompany panic attacks. These include depression, drug abuse, and alcohol abuse.

Panic attacks can also cause a person to be so afraid of different situations, that he or she will avoid places and situations where the panic attacks occurred. They might think that a certain situation or experience caused the panic attacks when in reality the panic attacks just happened to occur in a certain location or situation.

This fear of anything that might cause panic attacks can be very disabling. Those who experience panic attacks often will do everything in their power to prevent any panic attacks. This means that many people will restrict their lives to such an extent that they can't or won't do everyday activities like shopping or driving. Or they might only do such activities with a trusted friend or family member.

Panic attacks are easily treatable with medication and therapy. Medical treatment for panic attacks involves digesting anti-anxiety drugs like Valium, Atavan or Xanax daily. These drugs belong to a class called benzodiazepines that are known for their sedative and muscle relaxant properties. They're very effective in treating panic attacks, but if used for a long time, patients can develop a tolerance to them or become dependant on them.

Therapy treatment for panic attacks includes a type of psychotherapy calledcognitive behavior therapy. Cognitive behavior therapy for treatment of panic attacks involves recognizing unhelpful patterns of thinking and reacting and replacing them with more helpful and realistic thoughts.

Fear is an innate feeling of danger to a risky or threatening situation. In event of danger or risk, there would be an adrenaline rush into our body muscles so that we can react defensively to protect ourselves in the survival fight. The brain would decide on the better reaction of whether to fight for our survival or to run and hide away from the danger called fight or flight reaction. This emotion is natural instinct of humans and has evolved and ingrained in our daily lives. For some people, there are cases where the state of emotional fear lingers for so long that it cannot be eliminated as a result of the fight or flight reaction that results in what is known as panic attacks.

Panic attacks are an exaggerated condition due to fear. While some fear is healthy, in panic attacks there is an overwhelming amount of fear. The panic attack can come into our lives with no warning at all. There may be no logical reason why we can get into a state of panic, however once a panic attack occurs it is very intense and there is nothing that we can do about it.

Several physical symptoms of panic attacks can be identified which include heart racing, pounding or skipping heartbeat, tightness or discomfort in chest region, choking sensation, sweatiness, shaking and trembling, butterflies and nausea, hot flashes or chills, numbness in certain parts of the body, erratic breathing or shortness of breath, dizziness, light-headedness and so forth. The psychological emotions felt by these victims can be very damaging and frightening that they, who suffer panic attacks, can feel that they are dying or losing their minds. Things seem unreal to them or may even feel that they are detached from their bodies while some are so fearful that they must escape and flee the situation altogether.

In fact, the symptoms mentioned above are the sensations and feelings that one experiences whenever they are facing impending threats or dangers. As reinstated earlier, these symptoms occur to sufferers of panic attacks in circumstances without presence of danger even in safe environment and under no logical explanation. There is no surprise at all that the panic attack can occur even when the victim is at sleep.

Panic attacks cannot or difficult to stop when it attacks and they normally happen without any potential signals or predictions. This is because the excessive level of hormones imbalances and adrenalines that flood the body and muscles causes such extreme terror and desperation that are so beyond the grasp of the actual situation. It is therefore not only necessary but compulsory to attempt to control the exaggerated emotions of fear using different appropriate means of treatments.

The suffering of panic attacks is very dreadful and agonizing according to many victims of the panic attacks. The feelings of extreme fear and overwhelming terror are very intense that they feel like eternity once the attack starts to kick in.

Terror, to the normal people living normal lives, is part and parcel of our lives and the evolution. To victims of panic attacks, they are constantly and relentlessly facing the fear and terror everyday of their lives. There are a great variety of treatment techniques and therapies available in the marketplace for curing the panic attack and disorder. Do not give up on yourself and start visiting professionals to seek treatment and get rid of the panic attack forever for your lifetime.

Article Source : Pg. 4

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Both Amit Mehta & Thomas Bronson 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.

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