Anxiety attacks are like sudden trauma, affecting a person’s mental and/or physical aspects intensely. The term is not psychological, and therefore, not defined the same way always. Many people use ‘panic attacks’ and ‘anxiety attacks’ interchangeably. After experiencing anxiety attack, most people immediately start looking for anxiety remedies.
What does Anxiety Attack Feel Like?
Not everyone experiences anxiety attacks the same way. But, more often than not, the individual feels as if something is dangerously wrong. For a brief moment, the possibility of doom, death or loss of control seems imminent. The intense overwhelming feeling generally fades away quickly, but often leaves the patient feeling frightened, as well as physically or emotionally drained.
Common symptoms include heart pounding, cheat pain, headache, breath shortness, heart pressure, lightheadedness, tingling or weak muscles, sweating, nausea, and cold or hot sensation. A patient feels like he or she is going crazy, dying or losing total control. While an attack lasts ten minutes or less, the anxiety that follows requires hours to disappear.
Why Anxiety Attacks Happen?
The initial attack normally arises when the patient feels severely stressed out or afraid. The subsequent attacks happen due to worrying about having another attack, over sensitization, or for no reason. Many people mistake panic attacks to be serious illness indicators, which leads to even more anxiety. Note that panic attacks do not directly threaten life; yet, a large number of patients face fear over their health and end up getting hospitalized.
Non-invasive Anxiety Relieving Options
When an anxiety attack starts, it becomes truly hard to control. However, using Cognitive Behavior Therapy or CBT, techniques to decrease attack severity can be taught. Techniques like being aware of the situation, understanding that an attack is happening, slow breathing preventing hyperventilation to reduce physical reactions etc. are taught in CBT.
At times, therapy may fail to cause considerable improvements, so medication intake becomes necessary. Medications that treat depression or SSRIs are often used to reduce anxiety. In fact, commonly, anxiety and depression occur simultaneously. Medications can be used to aid in sleep, to break anxiety, or when required. Note that SSRIs may cause side effects, some of which may be severe.
Some psychiatrists in Los Angeles CA from West Coast Life Center recommend the use of Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation device or CES. These devices are like portable Walkman, powered using AAA or AA batteries. These send gentle micro electric current pulses to a patient’s brain. The patient generally does not feel anything much during treatment. However, experiencing headaches or light-headedness is possible – normally combated by reducing stimulation intensity .CES devices that are FDA-approved are available.
The Food and Drug Administration of the USA promotes the use of TMS or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation devices, too. Used to treat clinical depression, these devices can relieve anxiety by sending magnetic pulses targeting certain parts of the brain. As only specific brain regions are targeted, not many side-effects exist.
Disclaimer: This post is not medical advice but are only for general education use; please consult your medical doctor for any individualized care.
