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How To Overcome Panic Attacks: Dealing With Crisis

By admin in Reasons for Dependency on July 4th, 2010

Many specialists describe the panic attacks and panic disorders as a (very effective) trap in two fundamental key areas. To overcome panic attacks requires effort, strength and dedication. The first trap is related to that person who, suffering a crisis, trusts that whatever he is doing is risky (ie, he will get a heart attack, he will faint, he will lose the reason, he will lose the control) when, in actuality, a panic attack does not pose any danger by any means to him. Secondly, those affected by a panic attack will fall into the trap of doing anything that they believe will help them to avoid crisis when what they actually do is to get worse their situation on how to overcome panic attacks. Such actions include behaviors of avoidance, as well as trying to control/overcome panic attacks, fight them, fall into superstitions and rituals to avoid panic attacks and reach self-protection. That is, what is done to cope with panic attacks ends up locking them in, in most cases (Carbonell, 2004).

According to Giorgio Nardone and Federica Cagnoni (Arezzo), an initial 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 reaction does not work; on the contrary, it further confirms the threat, which worsens the outcomes 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 typical 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, represents a confirmation to the person of the threat of the prevented situation which, in turns, prepares subsequent evasive behaviors. In consequence, not only the fear increases but it also grows the person’s skepticism to overcome panic attacks with their own resources, thus boosting up the phobia and the reactions. Consequently, the disorder turns out to be more disabling and limiting.

Request for help. Once the vicious circle of avoidance is turned on, the person often 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 provide assistance to the affected person to overcome panic attacks. The provision of help assists 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 quickly intervene in the provision of help, ends 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 face his fear. However, in an attempt to maintain control at all costs on the body itself and on its psychiatric functions a paradoxical situation raises: when the person focus his attention on physiological responses (heart rate, breathing, balance, etc..), it inevitably leads to an alteration of some of this same functions, causing a fear that creates more changes and puts the person further away from the position to overcome panic attacks.

If you want to learn 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.