Panic attacks and how we treat them
Panic attack is one of the most common feeling of fear and anxiety with short-term manifestations. The intensity of panic attacks is very high and can occur only once in a lifetime, or there can also be episodes of panic attacks. The triggering of a panic attack is often sudden and without a specific reason. Moreover, a panic attack can occur in those periods when we are relaxed, happy and perfectly healthy.
Symptoms of panic attacks
Many of the symptoms in the case of panic attacks are similar to those of serious diseases and that is why a panic attack crisis can bring a lot of anxiety due to the belief that you are facing a problem that can even endanger life, the symptoms being often similar to those of a heart attack.
Symptoms associated with a panic attack include a feeling of intense fear complemented by an extremely strong physical reaction and the feeling of complete loss of control or even the feeling of being close to death. In addition to these psychological symptoms, panic attacks also have certain physical symptoms such as difficulty breathing, chest pain, stomach discomfort, excessive sweating and physical agitation. All of these are physical symptoms that often lead to a heart attack and that is why many people who experience a panic attack think that it is a heart attack, which makes the panic grow even more.
Causes of panic attacks
The causes of panic attack are unclear and little known. But there is a close connection between panic attacks and major changes in our lives, no matter what change we are talking about. Intense stress caused by various events or changes is another common cause for panic attacks. Another cause of the recurrence of panic attacks is the special attention to any change at the physical or environmental level in which you live, and from here new episodes of panic attacks can be generated.
Treatment in case of panic attacks
Panic attacks can be treated and there are various effective solutions in this proposed by specialists in psychotherapy. A first step in treating a panic attack is accepting what is happening, and as situations of deep fear become more pronounced, it is important to focus on deep, conscious breathing. This is an effective relaxation technique for panic attacks. As a result of relaxation in the brain, information about the severity of a situation or event is no longer available and thus the state of panic in the body is no longer induced.
The different therapies to treat panic attacks are determined by the causes of the condition. The most effective approach to treating panic attacks is psychotherapy. One of the most innovative methods of psychotherapy is through Virtual Reality. In this method of psychotherapy, the therapist teaches the patient how to manage the physiology in case of a panic attack by learning relaxation techniques with the help of Virtual Reality.
This method of psychotherapy exposes the patient to a stimulus that can create a panic attack. But being a controlled environment, the therapist offers the patient multiple relaxation therapies within Virtual Reality so that the patient learns to self-calm and manage the physiological arousal generated by the panic attack caused by a certain stimulus.