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How To Overcome Panic Attacks: Psychological Considerations Of Crisis

7th July, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

Many experts and researchers describe the panic attacks and panic disorders as a (very real) trap in two fundamental key areas. To overcome panic attacks requires effort, strength and commitment. The first trap is related to that person who, suffering a crisis, believes that whatever he is doing is unsafe (ie, he will get a heart attack, he will faint, he will lose the reason, he will lose the control) when, in reality, a panic attack does not create any danger in any way to him. Secondly, those affected by a panic attack will fall into the trap of carrying out anything that they consider will help them to stay away from crisis when what they really do is to get worse their situation on how to overcome panic attacks. Such actions comprse behaviors of evasion, as well as trying to control/overcome panic attacks, fight them, fall into superstitions and rituals to stay away from panic attacks and reach self-protection. That is, what is done to deal with panic attacks finishes up locking them in, in most cases (Carbonell, 2004).

According to Giorgio Nardone and Federica Cagnoni (Arezzo), a first experience, either real or unreal, can bring into the person’s mind a new possibility of perceptual reaction: the fear. From that experience, everything that is carried out is done to protect himself from the real or imaginary danger. However, this response does not work; on the contrary, it further confirms the threat, which worsens the effects and induces a classic situation of panic reaction, both in terms of fear generalization in the psyche as well as in the behavioral response, thus making it harder to overcome panic attacks.
In particular, there have been identified three representative solutions that make an effort to overcome panic attacks: 1) avoidance, 2) request for help and 3) attempt to control.

Avoidance. The consequence of avoiding, in fact, provides an evidence to the person of the threat of the prevented situation which, in turns, prepares subsequent evasive behaviors. As result, not only the fear increases but it also grows the person’s skepticism to overcome panic attacks with their own resources, thus increasing the phobia and the reactions. Therefore, the disorder becomes more disabling and limiting.

Request for help. Once the vicious circle of avoidance is triggered, the person normally uses a second “strategy” that turns out to be counterproductive: the request for assistance, that is, the need to always be dependant and comforted by someone who is willing to mediate in a crisis in order to help the affected person to overcome panic attacks. The provision of help supports the person to calm down, but steadily it leads to an increased fear situation. As a matter of fact, the possibility of having someone or something (a substance or drug) to rapidly intervene in the provision of help, finishes up reassuring the person that he/she is unable of facing the feared situation all by him/herself.

Attempt to control. The control of physiological and behavioral reactions allows for a perceptual cycle that makes the person confront his fear. However, in an attempt to keep control at all costs on the body itself and on its psychiatric functions a paradoxical situation raises: when the person centers his attention on physiological responses (heart rate, breathing, balance, etc..), it unavoidably leads to a change in some of this same functions, causing a fear that creates more changes and puts the individual further away from the position to overcome panic attacks.

If you want to find out more on how to overcome panic attacks, anxiety disorders, or simply understand their symptoms, so that you can help yourself or your beloved ones, go to http://www.eovercomepaniattack.com where you will find information and solutions related to overcoming panic attacks.