Panic attacks are caused when a person feels an indescribable amount of fear and anxiety over a short period of time. It usually does not last for more than ten minutes but a person can experience a wide range of discerning symptoms out of which the most common is the sensation of having a heart attack. Besides that a person may feel suffocated, out of breath, dizzy, nauseous or even feel like they are facing death at any moment. People who experience it for the first time end up in the ER as they are unable to discern what exactly is happening to them. Most panic attacks do not last for more than one hour and the major symptoms fade away within the first 10-15 minutes.
What are the causes?
The causes can be varied but if left untreated they can develop into more serious panic disorders which can seriously impair a person's ability to cope with day to day life. It is best to consult a doctor to know the reasons behind the occurrence of frequent attacks and deal with them accordingly. One cause is substance abuse which is known to be a major cause of such disorders. A person can also experience such attacks if they are experiencing some form of withdrawal from medication. Many people who have minor cardiac issues also experience panic attacks from time to time and hypoglycemia is also known to be a major cause of such attacks.
Is it treatable?
Panic attacks are completely treatable and should not be ignored. A lot of different methods are prescribed by doctors and psychiatrists all around the world for treating such panic attacks.
What should you avoid?
Avoiding panicky situations or situations that can lead to a panic attack is important however it can also lead to a general fear of taking part in some day to day activities. It is important to understand that a panic attack has proper reasons and that these reasons are different for every individual. Although there is common ground through which a common mode of treatment can be prescribed, the best thing to do is to understand the dynamics of a panic attack.
How to counter?
Many people prescribe deep breathing to counter an oncoming attack but it is hardly effective. It often happens that a person undergoing an attack is unable to focus on their breathing as they are already out of breath. It rarely also depends on a person's lifestyle as there are a lot of people with perfectly healthy lifestyles who go through such attacks. What it leads to is a general fear of even going out in public among many people. People have pre panic thoughts in their heads which is amongst the most well known causes of a panic attack. Identifying a common trigger and avoiding it is also not right as the trigger may be an essential activity that a person has to get involved in. It is therefore through some amount of brain training that a person can learn how to get rid of a panic attack or how to prevent it from occurring.
Medicinal cures are also not reliable enough as sometimes the drugs are strong and lead to a worsened situation. It is also important for people to know that there are a lot of people who are advocating fake cures and other related phenomena. It is important to be well informed about such fake cures as they are really convincing and also cost a good deal of money but deliver no results whatsoever. So you have to be really careful of whom you listen to when you read things from the web, otherwise, there is a very high chance of you getting scammed.