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A fairly typical request from clients, of course women — «I have panic attacks.» What is it and what to do with it?
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Panic attacks
Panic attack — sudden onset of extreme anxiety, fear, tension and feeling unwell: palpitations, sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath …
Whoever had it — no need to explain how unpleasant this condition is, especially when it occurs for no reason, and it seems to you that you are going crazy. At the same time, note: all these are only feelings and physical states. In panic, that is, in chaotic thoughtless behavior, this state is already turned by the person himself, if he does not know how to behave correctly.
Panic attacks are causeless and occur as an attack, usually lasting about 10 minutes, but can be short-term about 1-5 minutes and long up to 30 minutes, but the feeling of anxiety can persist for 1 hour.
If panic attacks become regular, occur weekly or even more so daily, we are already talking about a disease: panic disorder.
Not to be confused: if the anxiety is persistent and there are no «light gaps», it is a different disorder: generalized anxiety disorder. And if a strong fear is predictable, if there was a reason for it, then this is not a panic attack, but a phobia.
Panic disorders often begin at a young, socially active age. The prevalence is 1-2 people per hundred, more often (2-3 times) it is observed in women, because women are less able to cope with it, they begin to be afraid of it and this only intensifies its course. The disease has an undulating course, about half of patients generally recover, the rest lead a relatively normal life, despite the persistence of symptoms and the presence of relapses. Fears, in any case, become weaker over time.
A panic attack is a very unpleasant thing, but in terms of health it is practically harmless. A panic attack turns into a serious problem when secondary fears wind up on it: fears of being alone (alone), fears of crowded places, fears of the subway, fears of repeated panic attacks …
When this happens for the first time, many begin to think about some serious disease of the heart, endocrine or nervous systems, digestion, they are in a hurry to call an ambulance, but by the time an ambulance arrives, everything just goes away. People start going to the doctors, trying to find the causes of «attacks» — it’s useless, which causes even more anxiety. A fear reflex is developed, an expectation of an attack arises, and this, in turn, reinforces the repetition of attacks … For those who do not know how to cope with such situations, life turns into a nightmare. Both you and your loved ones.
Output? Learn to cope with panic attacks faster, it’s quite real.
Panic attacks: what to do
A panic attack can happen to you. maybe with someone close to you. How to quickly learn to cope with panic attacks? As usual, knowledge in general and knowledge of what to do specifically are required. Next — calmness and quick action.
Awareness
Awareness is the first step to recovery. Fear is possible only in a situation of uncertainty. When you know what is happening to you, you are calmer about it, the fear weakens.
Now the most important thing: no matter how terrible you feel, no one has yet died from panic attacks. That’s for sure. Fears and feelings are experienced hard, but they cannot cause harm to health. By itself, fear does not lead to death, the systems of our body are able to withstand it. You will last. Our feelings in themselves are not damaging — this consciousness perceives them as a signal of physiological distress, since a panic attack is triggered regardless of a real external threat. Everything will pass, just follow the rules.
Panic attack you have: what to do
You can help yourself during a panic attack. Rules in short: Calm your head. Relax and try to shift your attention to something external. Make yourself as physically comfortable as possible. Reduce the image of anxiety. Stay where you are. tablet under the tongue. Breathe evenly and measuredly. Accept your feelings, let them flow through you. Get back to business. See details →
How to help someone who is having a panic attack
Do not give in to his panic; remember that only by maintaining inner peace and expressing it outwardly with your intonation, posture and actions, you can really help a person close to you. Stand in front of the person, if he allows you, take his hands and, looking into his eyes, say in a confident tone: “Look at me. What is happening to you is not life-threatening. Now you and I will breathe deeply and evenly together. And start breathing deeply and confidently, making sure that the person does the same.
It helps a lot if you visually show how to breathe. Hold his gaze, show with your hand up (when you need a breath), with your hand to the side, better to the right (pause), with your hand down (exhale), with your hand to the side (to the left) — exhale …
The voice must be decisive. Your confidence will definitely be transferred to the person. After a few minutes, the symptoms of a panic attack will subside.
Additionally: if you are a specialist, you can immediately do DPG: this normalizes the condition faster. There is a need to prevent possible negative anchoring of the scene, stay where you are and anchor positively. At least give the suggestion: “You see that you can feel good here. Look around and understand that in the subway (for example) you feel good, comfortable.
In any case, do not let the person go until the attack has passed, let him speak out, while maintaining confidence and calmness. After the panic attack is over, it makes sense to talk to him about the need to seek professional help.
Medications
Dietary supplements, leeches, glycine and other self-medication are meaningless. Vegetotropic drugs (anaprilin, pyrroxane, belloid, bellaspon) in combination with vascular metabolic therapy (cinnarizine, cavinton, trental, nootropil, piracetam, cerebrolysin) are ineffective, neuroleptics are rather harmful. Antidepressants of the SSRI group and episodic (not a course!) Taking tranquilizers to relieve anxiety and acute panic attacks help. In some cases, especially when generalized anxiety is attached, anticonvulsants can be used. Medications to prevent panic attacks need to be titrated, i.e. start with very low doses and gradually increase them to medium or high doses, especially since the therapeutic window for these drugs is wide.
It is clear that drug self-treatment is not an option, be sure to consult a psychotherapist.
If this is a problem with your friend, who is afraid of psychotherapists as well as the panic attack itself, tell her that the psychotherapist has special pills that help quickly and effectively (this is true), but which the doctor cannot prescribe without examining the patient (relative truth). A visit will convince her that psychotherapists are very nice people. They even help you heal.