How to get rid of panic attacks: medication and psychotherapy

Panic attacks: symptoms and treatment

Panic attacks (PA) are sudden bouts of intense fear accompanied by symptoms of autonomic and mental disorders. Panic attack attacks develop quickly enough. Their duration is from several minutes to an hour (on average about 20-30 minutes). PA is one of the symptoms of panic disorder, phobias, depression, endocrinological and cardiovascular diseases, post-traumatic stress syndrome and some other conditions.

Panic attacks differ from other forms of anxiety in their suddenness and intensity. They often accompany various mental illnesses. However, it is not possible to conclude about a mental disorder on the basis of PA alone. You will learn about what panic attacks are, symptoms and treatment from our article.

Panic attacks: causes, symptoms

From three to eleven percent of the population suffers from panic attacks. About 20% of people have experienced a panic attack once in their life. The condition is most often observed in women. PA usually begins during puberty. VSD and panic attacks are closely related. The latter are the most striking manifestation of vegetative-vascular dystonia.

Panic attacks - causes:

• obsessive-compulsive disorder;
• post-traumatic stress syndrome;
• SPOT (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome);
• hypoglycemia;
• Wilson's disease;
• hyperthyroidism;
• PMK (mitral valve prolapse);
• Pheochromocytoma;
• stress;
• use of drugs;
• depression.

When making a diagnosis of ""panic attack"", somatic diseases accompanied by fear attacks should be excluded. PA is not characterized by an aura (prodromal period). The attack begins suddenly, and after its end, patients feel weak, broken. The frequency of attacks is different - some patients suffer from daily PAs, while others have them once every six months.

The main symptoms of PA:

1. Disorders from the cardiovascular system: palpitations, discomfort in the heart area, feeling of ""interruptions"", ""stops"", rise in blood pressure.
2. Respiratory system disorders: feeling of lack of air, difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, feeling of suffocation.
3. Gastrointestinal disorders: belching, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea.
4. Dizziness, feeling of a lump in the throat, tremors, sweating, paresthesias.
5. Fear of death, heart attack, stroke, irritability, aggression or, on the contrary, depression, hopelessness.

How to get rid of panic attacks

How to treat panic attacks? Treatment should be aimed at eliminating the main cause that caused the attack. Medicines and psychophysiological techniques are used to stop a panic attack caused by a panic disorder. Medical therapy is selected by the doctor. He also informs the patient about how to cope with a panic attack using psychophysiological techniques, namely: relaxation, breathing ""into a bag"", diaphragmatic breathing.

How to get rid of panic attacks? Panic disorder is effectively treated with medication and psychotherapy. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy supplemented with SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) is effective in preventing panic attacks. A 2009 review noted a positive result of the combined use of medication and psychotherapy to reduce the frequency of attacks.

Also, doctors recommend changing your lifestyle:

• do not use coffee, caffeinated drinks and medicines. Caffeine can cause or increase feelings of anxiety;
• be outdoors more. Running, walking have a positive effect on patients with panic disorder. There is evidence that the effect is associated with the release of endorphins and a decrease in cortisol (the stress hormone);
• learn relaxation techniques independently (with the help of videos, books);
• perform breathing exercises that will help balance the level of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood.

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