Living with panic or anxiety disorder is like imprisoning yourself to your fears and you do not have the freedom to live a normal life. Panic disorder can rob you of the simple joys of life. The constant irrational fear can prevent you from functioning normally on your everyday life. It is important to know how to achieve panic disorder freedom to reclaim your life.
Anxiety disorder is a common mental illness affecting millions of people. Even famous people or celebrities are suffering from this debilitating mental illness. A person is suffering from panic or anxiety disorder when he or she is experiencing a sudden intense irrational fear for at least 6 months. Panic attacks are usually accompanied by symptoms like trembling, sweating, palpitation or increased heartbeat, nausea, dizziness, feeling of unreality and feeling of getting crazy or getting out of control. You have to do something to improve the quality of your life and achieve panic disorder freedom.
You have to know that panic or anxiety disorder is a treatable disorder and there is help available to achieve panic disorder freedom. A panic attack usually lasts for minutes or at least an hour. If you are having an attack, try to relax, close your eyes, perform deep breathing and redirect your thoughts to positive things. But of course, it is best to seek medical or professional help if you cannot manage your attacks on your own.
How to achieve panic disorder freedom?
Medications. Your doctor, usually a psychiatrist may recommend the use of medicines to alter your brain chemistry and to control your panic attacks. The common medications to achieve panic disorder freedom are antidepressants, beta blockers and anti-anxiety drugs. Although it may take several weeks for the medicines to work, following your doctor’s advice can help you reduce the severity and frequency of your panic attacks. SSRIs or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are the newest antidepressants prescribed for panic disorder which includes Celexa (citalopram), Paxil (paroxetine), Zoloft (sertraline) and Prozac (fluoxetine). SSRIs have fewer side effects compared to older types of antidepressants. Tricyclics and MAOIs or Monoamine oxidase inhibitors are the older types of antidepressants. Tricyclics which include Tofranil (imipramine} and Anfranil (clomipramine) can cause weight gain and dizziness. MAOIs include Nardil (phenelzine), Parnate (tranylcypromine) and Marplan (isocarboxazid). Different people respond differently to medications, so some people may still choose the older types of antidepressants. MOAIs react negatively on food and beverages containing high levels of tyramine like red wine, MOAIs may also react with medications like Advil, Tylenol and herbal supplements resulting to increased blood pressure that may be dangerous to your health. It is important to take medications under the supervision of your doctor to know the necessary precaution in taking panic disorder medications. You also need your doctor’s advice in dealing with the temporary side effects of medications like jittery feelings, headache, nausea, sleeping problems and sexual problems.
Psychotherapy. Counseling and therapy are important treatment methods that can help sufferers to achieve panic disorder freedom. This treatment method can be accomplished by trained mental health professionals like a psychiatrist. A common psychotherapy is CBT or cognitive-behavioral therapy. It is a therapy that helps sufferers to change their thinking pattern and the way they respond to situations that trigger their anxiety. The mind and the body are connected. Changing the way you think will also change the way your body reacts to certain situations. Patients will undergo designed exercises to gradually expose them to their feared situations and to prepare them to eventually have a face to face encounter with their feared situations. They will eventually learn the techniques on how to manage their anxiety in the face of feared situations.