Many people have found relief for panic attacks through therapy. Since each person and their situation is not the same, the time frame the therapy can take to show improvement can vary significantly. Sometimes you may need to wait several months before you can start to see any results.
Patience is the most important consideration when starting panic attack therapy. One form of therapy can work for one person rather fast, while a second person might need more time, or even a mix of different treatment types to improve their anxiety attacks.
Try to be flexible and don't set specific goals for recovery such as “This method has to work in one month or it's a failure.” This is a sure way to disappoint yourself and make sure that you don’t experience change. Give whichever therapy method you try a fair chance and give it time to show progress.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a commonly-used and often effective method to treat panic and anxiety attacks. CBT is used to encourage people start to re-shape their thinking and behaviors. If you are looking for anxiety or panic attack therapy treatments, it is very likely that you will be exposed to this in some form.
When you start out with CBT, you will probably design a plan with your doctor. You may be given homework to be finished on your own such as jotting down your individual goals that you will use to gradually expose yourself to scenarios that may trigger anxiety or panic episodes for you. You will likely be keeping a journal to record your thoughts and feelings as well as a way of looking back to see your successes in your recovery.
Depending on your condition, you might also be given medicine. There are a lot of medications for anxiety disorders out there that can be very effective. Medication, though is not a solution. It just lowers your anxiety so that you can start to seek an effective recovery program.
Here are some common practices you might given as part of your panic attack therapy regimen. Please ask your doctor though before you try any of these on your own. These exercises are intended to mimic some of the physical symptoms of anxiety attacks so that you can get used to feeling them knowing that you are in full control of what is happening and gradually desensitize yourself from them.
First, you might try to hyperventilate for thirty seconds or so. Most panic attacks begin with hyperventilation, so if you can start to do this voluntarily, you may begin to feel more relaxed and stop a panic attack before it starts.
Also try spinning around several times to create a feeling of dizziness. Dizziness is another common symptom of panic and anxiety attacks.
Jog in place or take up an aerobic exercise routine to raise your pulse and get comfortable with that feeling.
Anxiety attack therapy can be an effective means of eliminating anxiety disorders by slowly getting you comfortable with common physical symptoms of a anxiety attack. Again, it may take some time to see measurable success in your recovery so stick with whatever program or form of therapy your doctor suggests.
