Overcome Panic Attacks: Find Out What To Do!

The trap of panic

Many specialists describe the panic attacks and panic disorders as a (very real) trap in two fundamental key areas. To overcome panic attacks requires effort, strength and dedication. The first trap is related to that person who, suffering a crisis, trusts that whatever he is doing is risky (ie, he will get a heart attack, he will faint, he will lose the reason, he will lose the control) when, in actuality, a panic attack does not pose any danger in any way to him. Secondly, those affected by a panic attack will fall into the trap of doing anything that they deem safe will help them to avoid crisis when what they actually do is to deteriorate their situation on how to overcome panic attacks. Such actions include behaviors of avoidance, as well as trying to control/overcome panic attacks, fight them, fall into superstitions and rituals to avoid panic attacks and achieve self-protection. That is, what is done to cope with panic attacks ends up locking them in, in most cases (Carbonell, 2004).

According to Giorgio Nardone and Federica Cagnoni (Arezzo), a first experience, either real or unreal, can bring into the person's mind a new possibility of perceptual reaction: the fear. From that experience, everything that is carried out is done to defend himself from the real or imaginary danger. Nonetheless, this reaction does not work; on the contrary, it further confirms the threat, which makes worse the effects and induces a classic situation of panic reaction, both in terms of fear generalization in the psyche as well as in the behavioral response, thus making it harder to overcome panic attacks.

Particularly, there have been identified three typical solutions that attempt to overcome panic attacks: 1) avoidance, 2) request for help and 3) attempt to control.

Avoidance. The effect of avoiding, in fact, represents a confirmation to the person of the threat of the prevented situation which, in turns, prepares subsequent evasive behaviors. As result, not only the fear increases but it also grows the person's skepticism to overcome panic attacks with their own resources, thus increasing the phobia and the reactions. Consequently, the disorder turns out to be more disabling and limiting.

Request for help. Once the vicious circle of avoidance is activated, the person often uses a second "strategy" that turns out to be counterproductive: the request for assistance, that is, the need to always be dependant and comforted by someone who is willing to intervene in a crisis in order to help the affected person to overcome panic attacks. The provision of help assists the person to calm down, but steadily it leads to an increased fear situation. As a matter of fact, the possibility of having someone or something (a substance or drug) to rapidly intervene in the provision of help, finishes up reassuring the person that he/she is unable of confronting the feared situation all by him/herself.

Attempt to control. The control of physiological and behavioral reactions allows for a perceptual cycle that helps the person confront his fear. Nonetheless, in an attempt to maintain control at any costs on the body itself and on its psychiatric functions a paradoxical situation raises: when the person centers his attention on physiological responses (heart rate, breathing, balance, etc.), it inexarobly leads to an alteration of some of this same functions, causing a fear that creates more changes and puts the person further away from the position to overcome panic attacks.