Panic attack symptoms what to do. How to get rid of panic attacks and fear on your own

panic attack syndrome pathological condition related to neuropsychiatric abnormalities, accompanied by autonomic disorders, sudden paroxysms of uncontrolled anxiety. The manifestation of an attack is not related to the situation, time of day, location. The duration of the state is from 10 to 25 minutes, then the fear disappears as suddenly as it began. The definition of neurosis - "panic attack" - was approved in 1980 and included in the International Classification of Diseases. The syndrome is not an independent pathology, it is only a symptomatology of a number of disorders in the endocrine, autonomic and central nervous system.

The debut in most cases falls on the age of 20-35. Less commonly observed in children and pensioners. Charcot's (French psychiatrist) systematized neurosis for the first time, then the study was continued by the follower Sigmund Freud. In his interpretation, the psycho-neurological state was defined as an “anxious attack”. Through their research, it was concluded that women are five times more likely to experience uncontrollable fear. The main incidence of pathology occurs in megacities. In 70% of cases of suicide, the harbinger was the manifestation of the syndrome.

Causes of a panic attack

Several theories of pathology formation are considered. They relate to deviations of a physiological nature and social prerequisites. The main provocateurs of the manifestation of disturbing paroxysms:

1. An increase in the blood concentration of catecholamines produced by the adrenal glands, which are involved in the stimulation of the nervous system.
2. hereditary predisposition. It was noted that in 20% of cases, close relatives are susceptible to neurosis.
3. Intrapersonal conflicts arising from unfulfilled aspirations, which entail the cumulative effect of stress. After a certain time, at the subconscious level, they are transformed into a neurological anomaly.
4. A behavioral factor in which a state arises due to a perceived danger, and not a real threat. For example, a trip in transport, according to a person, must certainly end in an accident. In this situation, a panic attack begins.
5. Overestimation of one's own feelings, when an ordinary increase in heart rate is perceived as a threat to life.

At the heart of the mechanism that triggers the attack is the increased production of adrenaline. The release of the hormone into the blood occurs in critical situations: a strong fright, a threat to health or life. It is a kind of protective reaction of the body. At elevated level observed tachycardia, blood pressure, rapid breathing. Manifestations intensify the symptoms of paroxysm, a signal is given to the central nervous system, adrenaline production increases, the circle closes.

A panic attack syndrome is formed for a number of reasons of a psychological or somatic nature. The last prerequisite includes diseases or a physiological condition:

1. Pathologies of the heart muscle (myocardial infarction, ischemia, valve prolapse) are accompanied by severe pain fixed in the subconscious. Symptoms are associated with a threat to life. After the elimination of the underlying disease, the slightest manifestations of symptoms cause a feeling of uncontrollable fear of possible death.
2. endocrine anomalies. A tumor of the adrenal glands (pheochromocytoma) is the cause of hyperproduction of hormones (adrenaline, norepinephrine), which, by narrowing the lumen of blood vessels, cause hypertensive crisis. High pressure is accompanied by shortness of breath, tachycardia and, as a result, a panic attack. Thyrotoxicosis occurs when the function of the thyroid gland is impaired. Thyroxine production is increased. Given that the hormone, like adrenaline, is a central nervous system stimulant, people with this pathology are in constant mental activity, suffer from lack of sleep, or it is episodic, accompanied by disturbing dreams.
3. Physiological changes: onset of sexual activity, debut menstrual cycle, pregnancy, childbirth. Hormonal restructuring contributes to the development of paroxysms of panic.

Long-term use of medications that stimulate the production of cholecystokinin, a hormone that suppresses anxiety and fear, can cause seizures. Steroid-based drugs, for example, Bemegrid, used in the treatment of alcohol, drug addiction, barbiturate intoxication. Side effects of taking them are hallucinations and panic attacks.

Psychical deviations

Most neuropsychiatric abnormalities in their symptoms have a panic syndrome. It accompanies:

1. depression. A harbinger of a depressed state in most cases is an anxiety attack, and vice versa, frequent paroxysms cause a deterioration in mood. Increased production of adrenaline leads to a subsequent decline, the lack of the desired concentration of the hormone of joy leads to the development of depression.
2. Mental pathologies of an endogenous nature (schizophrenia, paranoia). These diseases are accompanied by obsessive ideas of persecution or attempt on life, hence attacks of unreasonable fear.
3. Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Constant thoughts about possible infection provoke paroxysms if a person sees a large crowd of people. The belief in the onset of death at night forms a stable panic sleep syndrome, in this case, without medical help, the patient himself will not be able to cope with the problem.

Like depression, an attack of uncontrollable anxiety accompanies all kinds of phobias. The cause of the syndrome may be a social factor. This category consists mainly of children and teenagers. They are characterized by a strong fear of passing exams, possible punishment, failure in competitions, and condemnation of peers. More than others, panic attacks are experienced by minors who have been sexually abused or suffer from enuresis.

Risk factors

The following factors are provocateurs of panic fear syndrome:

• unresolved stressful situations;
• insufficient level of material support;
• bad habits: alcohol, tobacco smoking, drugs, caffeinated drinks;
• sedentary lifestyle;
• insufficient amount of time for a night's sleep;
• poor diet;
• the presence of chronic diseases;
• psychological trauma in childhood;
• family foundations, the costs of education;
• transitional age.

Seizures can trigger the following events: betrayal of a loved one, loss of a close relative, failure in labor activity.

Classification and main features

The pathology is divided taking into account the situation of manifestation. Most of them are spontaneous seizures, not tied to a place or event. The next group is situational paroxysms, which are based on a specific cause, usually phobias: fear of heights, closed space, speaking in front of an audience. Conditionally-situational, caused by the influence of alcohol or drugs, this group includes hormonal changes. Panic attack syndrome is accompanied by symptoms that differ slightly depending on the age category.

In adults

The course of the anomaly is not the same for everyone. It depends on the psychotype of the individual and the intensity of the paroxysm. Symptoms are divided into physical and psychological manifestations. Somatic features include:

• rapid contraction of the heart muscle;
• twisting pain in abdominal cavity, vomit;
• sensation of a sharp change of heat to cold;
• respiratory failure, feeling of suffocation;
• dryness of the oral mucosa;
• numbness of the limbs, tremor;
• dizziness, weakness, blurred picture;
• violation of bowel movements (diarrhea, constipation);
• jumps in blood pressure;
• profuse sweating;
• pain behind the sternum on the left side.

Psychological symptoms:

• impending anxiety as a premonition of danger;
• fear of death, illness, injury, insanity;
• loss of orientation in space;
• distortion of sounds, smells, objects;
• slow perception of moving objects;
• pre-fainting state.

The duration of the attack is from 10 to 60 minutes, the frequency of repetitions is from one to several times a week or twice a month. In adults, crises occur at night in 50% of cases. Panic sleep syndrome is formed in people with good self-control over emotions. The harbingers are an excited state in the evening, the inability to fall asleep from overwhelming anxious thoughts. The manifestation of paroxysm falls on the time after midnight. A person wakes up from fear bordering on horror, with a rapid heartbeat and a desire to run away, hide.

In children

Panic syndrome manifests itself from the age of 3-4, when the child becomes capable of understanding the events taking place around him. The main age category subject to attacks of fear are children of the school adolescent group. Symptoms of pathology:

• growing anxiety;
• increased sweating;
• palpitations, shortness of breath;
• impossibility of concentration;
• desire to hide
• loss of control over emotions.

In children, a state of panic may be accompanied by a hysterical cry, wandering eyes, blanching of the skin. In some cases, a state of stupor is observed, the child cannot speak, move, he does not respond to sounds, spasms of the facial muscles are possible. The attack ends with involuntary urination and vomiting.

Dangerous Consequences

The syndrome does not pose a threat to the physiological state, the consequences are psychological in nature. Panic attacks form:

• various phobias;
• depressed mood;
• desire for isolation from society;
• problems in sexual and family life;
• occurrence of depression.

Sometimes, in order to get rid of bouts of fear, an individual resorts to drugs or alcohol. Use aggravates the situation and develops chemical dependence.

Treatment Methods

The therapy is carried out in a complex with the use of psychological correction, traditional medicine recipes, pharmacological agents. The first task in a panic attack is the ability to act in the current situation.

First aid

If you need help for a person experiencing severe fear, it is advisable to follow a number of recommendations:

• to draw attention;
• take hands, reassure in a confident tone that there is no danger and they will not leave him alone;
• try to meet the person's gaze and keep his attention;
• conduct joint breathing exercises, consisting of deep breaths and slow exhalations.

After a few minutes, when the symptoms subside, you can release your hands and call the person to a dialogue.

Psychotherapy sessions

The psychotherapist conducts an individual conversation with the patient to find out the nature of fears, the frequency and degree of manifestation of paroxysms. The main direction in the correction of the state is to teach a person to manage emotions. The following methods are used:

• cognitive-behavioral for the patient to accept the problem and reassess the attitude towards it;
• cognitive-behavioral, which includes breathing exercises, the impact on the subconscious with the help of hypnosis. The doctor finds out the cause of fears, gives an attitude towards them;
• Gestalt therapy teaches the individual to analyze in detail the situation of a panic attack and independently find a way out of the crisis.

An innovative method in the treatment of the disease is neurolinguistic programming. It is carried out by modeling the situation that provokes the syndrome. The psychotherapist helps the patient cope with a panic attack, then the actions are analyzed step by step, which helps the person to rethink the attitude to the sensations experienced and the ability to independently manage them.

Preparations

The prescription of medications for panic attack syndrome is included in the course of treatment, medications are selected in accordance with clinical picture. Therapy is based on the use of such drugs:

1. Antidepressants - Melipramine, Anafranil, Desipramine.
2. Tranquilizers to eliminate the attack - "Valium", "Dormicum", "Signopam", "Lorazepam", "Afobazol".
3. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors - Fluoxetine, Zoloft, Fevarin, Citalopram.
4. Atypical antidepressants - Trittiko, Bupropion, Mirtazapine.
5. Monoamine oxidase inhibitors - Moclobemide, Pyrazidol
6. Beta-blockers - Anaprilin, Egilok.
7. Nootropics - Pyritinol, Glycine, Mexidol.

Folk remedies

Medicinal plants with a calming effect help to reduce the intensity of paroxysm. To prepare the product, you will need a herbal collection, consisting of valerian, motherwort, peony, Rhodiola rosea in equal parts. For 0.5 liters of water, 4 tablespoons of the ingredient are taken, placed in a steam bath (15 minutes), filtered. Then, 10 drops of Eleutherococcus tincture and the same amount of Valocordin are added to the finished broth. Drink 3 sips every two hours for a course of 14 days.

In a broad sense, a panic attack is a disorder accompanied by recurrent episodes of anxiety.

Provocative factors may be limited to a specific situation or the progression of mental disorders.

Attacks in most cases occur suddenly. Causes of panic attacks may remain unexplained for a long time. To determine them, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive examination, consultations with a neurologist, psychologist and psychotherapist.

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General information

A panic attack is a sudden bout of anxiety and fear associated with vegetative traits.

Attacks of this condition can occur singly under the influence of certain factors or become regular.

Frequent panic attacks without pronounced reasons, they are a symptom of a mental disorder or diseases of some body systems (for example, heart disease, endocrine abnormalities, etc.).

Peculiarities panic attacks:

• a panic attack is a type of anxiety disorder of a neurotic level;
• the beginning and end of the attack is sudden;
• according to the ICD-10, panic attacks are assigned the code F41.0 "Panic disorder" (the full path of such conditions includes codes F40-48, F41, F41.0).

Panic - what does it mean?

Panic manifests itself in feeling intense anxiety. Panicism can be associated with certain factors or appear for no reason. During an attack, there is an active production of adrenaline.

The sharp narrowing of blood vessels, provoked by this substance, causes an increase in blood pressure, impaired breathing and heartbeat.

The consequence of such a reaction may be a feeling of fear of the condition that has arisen. As a result, there powerful bout of anxiety.

Types of panic

In medical practice, panic attacks are divided into two categories - deployed and small (abortive).

In the first case, the patient has four or more panic symptoms, in the second - less than four.

Small attacks may occur for a short period of time or several times a day. The time intervals between deployed panic attacks are longer.

The regular occurrence of panic may be due to the progression of mental disorders or phobic conditions.

Types of panic attacks:

• situational(the provoking factor is a specific psychotraumatic situation);
• spontaneous(the cause of the attack cannot be identified);
• conditionally situational(an attack occurs against the background of a biological or chemical stimulus).

Why do they arise?

In medical practice, the causes of panic attacks fall into three categories − physiological, psychological and biological.

In most cases, the provoking factor is a combination of deviations from several groups. Regular panic attacks appear under the influence of strong emotional upheavals or serious deviations of the nervous system.

Provoke panic attacks may be the following factors:

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Panic attacks. What is it and how to treat them:

How do they appear?

In some cases, the manifestation of panic attacks has a specific.

In the presence of certain provoking factors, regular anxiety attacks will be the first signals indicating the development of serious deviations in the psycho-emotional state.

Symptoms of panic attacks in each case will be different. Peculiarities different types panic attacks depending on the provoking factor:

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Psychology of panic

The psychology of panic attacks in different categories of patients may differ.

Seizures in different cases have certain prerequisites.

For example, men and women are prone to panic attacks to varying degrees, and children and adolescents are at particular risk.

common factors that can lead to sudden attacks anxieties are genetic predisposition and the regular impact of negative factors on the psycho-emotional state.

What causes neuroses? Differences in the psychology of attacks in different categories of patients:

1. In men panic attacks in most cases are provoked by excessive physical and mental overstrain, somatic diseases and lifestyle (males are more prone to abuse bad habits, are characterized by excessive excitability of the psyche).
2. Among women the main provoking factors of panic attacks are hormonal changes in the body and the initial hypersensitivity of the psyche (a woman is more prone to experiences, panic attacks can be triggered by hormonal changes during menstruation, menopause or pregnancy).
3. In children The main cause of panic attacks is exposure external factors(immoral behavior of parents, excessive punishment, constant humiliation, as well as other stressful situations, the danger of panic attacks lies in the risk of developing phobias in adulthood).
4. Teenagers attacks of unreasonable panic are most often the result of hormonal changes in the body (during transitional age"The psyche of a teenager is overly sensitive; even a slight impact of negative factors can provoke panic attacks).

Symptoms and signs

Intensity panic attack and the occurrence of certain symptoms depends on the provoking factor and general condition the human psyche.

In most cases, seizures are accompanied by an emotional-affective component, but an anxious-phobic component may be absent.

If panic arises under the influence of the progression of phobias, then psycho-emotional deviations will be more pronounced. Autonomic disturbances are considered an integral symptom of panic attacks.

A panic attack is accompanied by the following symptoms:

• difficulty breathing ("lump in the throat", suffocation, etc.);
• feeling of anxiety and fear;
• heart failure ( pain, rapid pulse);
• increase in body temperature;
• general weakness of the body;
• feeling chilly or hot;
• increased sweating;
• convulsive conditions;
• impaired coordination of movements;
• bouts of vomiting and nausea;
• headaches or dizziness;
• impaired perception of sounds;
• speech change;
• tremor of the limbs.

Symptoms panic attack:

How long does it take?

Average panic attack lasts for fifteen minutes.

In some cases, it can last up to one hour. During this period of time, one protracted attack or several short-term ones may occur.

The beginning of the panic will be different unpredictability. The peak of the attack in most cases occurs in the fifth minute. After suffering a panic, a person feels a general weakness of the body.

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What is dangerous?

Panic attack could be dangerous not only for the person who experiences it, but also for the people around. The combination of anxiety and autonomic disturbances can be mistaken for a heart attack, tachycardia, or a symptom of other diseases.

A person begins to drink medicines, trying to get rid of the disease.

Incorrectly selected medicines cause significant harm to health. In addition, panic can provoke aggression and suicidal tendencies.

Additional consequences Panic attacks can become the following conditions:

• exacerbation of chronic diseases;
• the risk of developing mental disorders;
• the likelihood of harm to the health of others.

What methods are included in the treatment?

In drawing up a course of therapy for panic attacks should take part psychologist, psychotherapist and neurologist.

Specialists diagnose the patient's health status, identify the causes of anxiety and select the most effective means of treating existing pathologies.

In most cases, a combination drug therapy and the use of special psychotherapeutic techniques impact.

Therapy for panic attacks may include the following techniques:

Regular panic attacks imply complex therapy which includes several types of methods. Panic attacks, especially unreasonable ones, should not be ignored in any case. First of all, you need to consult with a neurologist and a psychotherapist.

If panic attacks are not stopped in time, then complications can trigger irreversible pathological processes associated with the psyche.

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Urbanization, technological progress, huge flows of information impose a rhythm and lifestyle that cause diseases such as a panic attack or an anxiety disorder.

Not always a person is able to independently recognize the symptoms and start treatment on time. One of the features of this disease is an unexpected feeling of panic fear, which cannot be explained by objective reasons.

The processes that occur in the body during a panic attack are identical to those that occur during a real threat to life. The brain receives a signal of danger, there is a release of a large amount of adrenaline, the hormone responsible for stress. Under its influence, the body is mobilized to survive in extreme conditions.

In a panic attack, a person gets into a conflict: he experiences a feeling of fear and physical symptoms, but there is no danger and threat.

Disoriented by such a discrepancy, the patient concentrates all attention on internal sensations, increasing the level of anxiety. At the same time, cyclicity is observed: the higher the level of emotional stress, the more active the physiological processes that provoke this state. The attack ends as suddenly as it begins.

Panic attacks have a destructive effect on the quality of life and personality of a person, as they are a source of causeless, uncontrollable, severe stress.

There are several theories and hypotheses that explain the nature of panic attacks. Moreover, each assumption is correct. But, given the individual characteristics of the physiology and psyche of any person, genetic and personality differences, the conclusion suggests itself that attacks of irrational fear are based on the influence of a combination of causes.

Catecholamine hypothesis

The catecholamine hypothesis is based on the idea that hormonal failure in the patient's body. It has been experimentally proved that with an increase in the level of adrenaline, a hormone of the catecholamine group, in the blood, the vegetative-vascular system mobilizes the body to adapt to extreme external conditions.

This explains the physiological sensations during attacks and causes emotional tension, increasing the level of anxiety.

Improper functioning of the adrenal glands, which produce adrenaline, provokes unmotivated and unpredictable attacks of physical ailments, and, as a result, panic attacks.

genetic hypothesis

Scientific observations have revealed a pattern in the genetic inheritance of the disease. The chance of having a panic attack increases by up to 50% if you are closely related to a person with this disorder. The disease encoded in the genes is activated under favorable conditions for this.

Psychoanalytic theory

Psychoanalysts suggest that the basis of panic attacks is the tension accumulated by the suppression of one's own desires. The inability to realize desires due to danger or unacceptability in society leads to an internal conflict.

And unspent sexual energy has a depressing effect on the emotional state. As a result of psychological overload, a feeling of anxiety appears. At the highest point of tension, anxiety transforms into a feeling of fear, provoking panic attacks.

behavioral theory

Behavioral theory explains the nature of panic attacks in terms of acquiring and reinforcing a conditioned reflex. After the strongest stresses, associative links arise in the memory between the feeling of fear and an external circumstance, which can be very conditional.

In the future, the reflex is consolidated: a person in everyday life encounters an irritant, an association is triggered, an attack of irrational fear occurs.

In especially impressionable people, the fact of experienced stress may be absent. For the formation of an attack, rather weak deviations from the usual state of health in a new environment or situations that cause uncertainty.

Physical ailment caused by natural causes (hidden illness, poorly ventilated room), but at the time of the experiences caused by the current situation (flying on an airplane or a large crowd of people around), is associatively associated with external conditions and far-fetched fears.

The first attack has nothing to do with a panic attack, and only forms the conditions for it. In the future, under similar circumstances, an attack of fear will arise reflexively, reliably fixing such a reaction in behavior.

cognitive theory

According to cognitive theory, panic attacks occur under the pressure of their own negative thoughts and attitudes. Any ailment is considered by the patient as one of the symptoms of a severe, incurable disease. By developing these depressing thoughts, a person loops the situation.

A prematurely and unreasonably far-fetched diagnosis stimulates fantasy.

The mental representation of prospects induces anxiety and fear. As a result, the level of adrenaline in the blood rises, the mechanism of a panic attack starts. With each attack, it seems to a person that his disease (far-fetched) is progressing or killing him.

These sensations are reinforced by the fact that the physical symptoms are directly dependent on the psychological state and intensify along with the feeling of fear.

Stages of development of a panic attack

The duration of the attack is from 10 to 30 minutes. In rare cases, a panic attack lasts more than an hour. Often, the occurrence of an attack is unpredictable: when confronted with an irritant (or conditions that provoke an attack), the reaction of the body is instantaneous.

Stages of development:

1. Associative memory is triggered and the brain receives a signal of danger. There is a feeling of anxiety.
2. At the same time, the adrenal glands secrete large amounts of adrenaline.
3. Under its influence, the blood vessels of the skin and mucous membranes narrow and the vessels of the brain expand. These changes lead to sudden pressure surges. The skin turns pale.
4. There are symptoms of tachycardia. There is a feeling of suffocation and breathing quickens.
5. Due to an excess of oxygen in the blood and a deficiency of carbon dioxide, dizziness and numbness of the extremities begin.
6. Appear the urge to the toilet, nausea, vomiting.
7. Adrenaline stimulates the nervous system. Distractedness, a feeling of disorientation and derealization appear.
8. There is mental tension, anxiety, fear prevails over all emotions.
9. Negative emotions provoke an increase in the level of adrenaline in the blood, which exacerbates the symptoms.

In rare cases, during the moments of a panic attack, a person loses consciousness. There are also cases when an attack is accompanied by convulsions resembling epilepsy. Panic attacks, its symptoms and treatment in each individual case are very individual and depend on the characteristics of the person.

In some cases, the patient is not able to independently recognize the disorder. And symptomatic treatment, as a rule, does not give results. It is important to understand that to solve the problem, an integrated approach is needed, consisting of medications and psychotherapy. If left untreated, panic attacks become a generalized anxiety disorder.

Causes of panic attacks

The causes of panic attacks depend on the lifestyle, physical and mental characteristics of a person. Favorable conditions for an attack are stress, chronic diseases, phobias and other similar conditions that have a depressing effect.

All the causes that provoke attacks of panic attacks can be divided into three categories: somatic, mental and social.

Somatic (bodily) diseases

Acute or chronic forms of diseases, as well as changes in hormonal levels, lead to psychological discomfort. The slightest deterioration in well-being provokes anxiety, fear. Together with the characteristics of the underlying disease or condition, emotional experiences take the form of panic attacks. There is increased sweating, shortness of breath, tachycardia.

At the same time, the physical symptoms of seizures are felt stronger than the emotional ones, which fade into the background and seem natural with such ailments. Among somatic diseases heart disease, thyroid disease are especially distinguished. As well as hormone-dependent physiological conditions: pregnancy, premenstrual syndrome, menopause.

Symptoms of panic attacks in the treatment of alcoholism, drug addiction are more common due to the use of medications that stimulate the nervous system. Steroid drugs that are used for asthma should be used with caution.

mental illness

Protracted depressions, phobias, experienced stresses are the most favorable conditions for the appearance of panic attacks. Irrational fear may be based on claustrophobia or neurasthenia, on memories of an experienced catastrophe or obsessive suspicion.

The boundary between a panic attack and its cause in this case is very difficult to establish. Due to similar symptoms, it is very common for a panic attack to cause nervous breakdown(depression, schizophrenia).

Social causes

The rhythm of life in large cities, large amounts of information create the conditions for chronic stress. Children and adolescents are especially prone to borderline emotional states.

The lack of proper rest and constant emotional stress, responsibility and high demands lead to the fact that the immature nervous system of the child can not stand it, and ordinary experiences become fears.

Problems in relationships with peers, upcoming exams, fear of punishment can provoke an attack.

Systematic panic attacks in children can cause the development of neuralgic abnormalities and diseases such as asthma or enuresis, complicating the treatment of attacks and depressing the emotional state even more.

Risk factors

Risk factors include conditions that reduce stress resistance:

1. Bad and harmful habits. Alcohol, smoking, drugs are the strongest depressants and cause irreparable damage to health and immunity. A significant part of the primary attacks of panic attacks is provoked by an abstinence syndrome.
2. Passive lifestyle. Lack of physical activity leads to the accumulation of emotional stress. Weak muscles become one of the causes of health problems, the appearance of chronic hidden diseases.
3. Weak socialization. Conflicts, explicit or suppressed, lead to dissatisfaction with the outside world, become the cause of nervous tension.
4. Lack of proper rest. Short, superficial and irregular sleep is not able to unload the nervous system after a hard, busy day. Fatigue and irritability from lack of sleep use up the body's reserves faster than any obvious stress, leading to nervous exhaustion.

In addition to external risk factors, one should remember the individuality of each person. The more labile a person is, the more likely he is to have a panic attack. While stable, mentally flexible, a person may never experience an attack of irrational fear due to the high stress tolerance and defense mechanisms of the body.

How the attack manifests itself

Panic attacks, the symptoms and treatment of which are very individual, depend on mental and physical features person. Strong-willed, disciplined people can suppress daytime anxiety attacks and face them at night. The causes that provoked an attack directly affect the manifestation of an attack.

In the presence of serious somatic diseases, physical symptoms are more strongly felt: dizziness, lack of oxygen, nausea and other conditions. Mental symptoms are more acutely experienced in panic attacks provoked by social causes or mental illness.
Mental symptoms

The most common symptoms associated with the nervous system are:

Physical symptoms of an attack

The physical symptoms of panic attacks are due to the effect of adrenaline on the body. In addition to individual sensations, there are a number of signs that accompany almost any attack, regardless of the causes and physiology.

The symptoms are as follows:

• Increased sweating.
• Paleness of the skin.
• Rapid breathing.
• Sharp acceleration of the heart rate.
• dilated pupils
• Trembling in limbs.
• Calls to the toilet.

Atypical attacks

In rare cases, a person experiences an atypical panic attack.

Its symptoms make the patient even more helpless than in a normal attack:

• Temporary dysfunction of the sense organs. Loss of sight or hearing.
• Loss of voice control.
• Feeling of stiffness in movement.
• Nausea, vomiting, involuntary urination.
• Convulsions resembling seizures of epilepsy.
• Loss of consciousness.

Instead of fear and panic, the patient experiences emotions corresponding to depression: irritability, melancholy, a feeling of hopelessness. Atypical panic attacks, due to the peculiarities of the symptoms, are much more difficult to diagnose.

How can an attack start?

Can provoke an attack negative thoughts about experienced stress, associative memory, own fantasy. Even memories of a previous attack can trigger a new one. The body is very sensitive to thoughts and moods, especially in cases where at least one panic attack has already been experienced.

An uncontrolled thought process about an exciting event awakens negative emotions, anxiety and worries. This tension is enough to trigger the physical symptoms of an attack.

When the attack is worse

There is a relationship between the psychological portrait of a person and how hard panic attacks are tolerated. People who are characterized by high emotionality, pessimism, a tendency to drama, feel the symptoms of seizures brighter.

If, after the first attack, a person independently and incorrectly analyzes what happened, convinces himself that the cause is a serious (incurable) illness or the inevitability of an accident, then the likelihood of a recurrence of panic attacks is high. With his own suspiciousness and fantasy, the patient develops and perpetuates the disease.

When a person is easier to tolerate an attack

Panic attacks and symptoms, the treatment of which may not be required, are more easily tolerated by strong-willed self-sufficient people who are socially adapted and independent of the opinions of others.

In these cases, faced with an attack, a person does not focus on sensations, does not think about the causes. Such a reaction does not allow the symptoms to close in a circle, the disease does not receive nourishment and fades by itself.

Night crises

Night attacks are more difficult to tolerate and have a strong negative impact on a person's life between crises. Instead of a proper rest after a busy day, the patient is faced with even more stress. First, an attack interrupts sleep - a depressed, depressed state occurs, fatigue accumulates. The person is afraid to fall asleep.

Insomnia leads to nervous exhaustion, which causes borderline states, depression, and other more serious mental disorders. With nocturnal crises, the likelihood of an early development of generalized anxiety disorder is high.

Menopause and panic attacks

Age-related hormone-dependent changes in a woman's body very often cause panic attacks. Due to the declining amount of estrogen, the woman's mental state becomes unstable. The menopausal syndrome can also complicate the situation, the symptoms of which are very similar to the symptoms of panic attacks.

Distinctive features are the following features:

1. irritability;
2. nervous breakdowns;
3. the so-called "hot flashes", a condition in which a feeling of stuffiness, heat is replaced by chills;
4. fear and anxiety.

Most often, panic attacks occur in pathologically early or late menopause, as well as in cases of artificially induced menopause for medical reasons. Panic attacks, the symptoms and treatment of which are determined by the joint efforts of a gynecologist and a psychologist, are the most common and natural reaction. female body to decline in reproductive function.

Vegetative-vascular dystonia

Vegetative-vascular dystonia is responsible for pain in the region of the heart, neuralgic disorders, headaches during panic attacks. As such, the disease does not exist - this is a generalized name for the dysfunction of the body, in which bad feeling due to a combination of causes, and not one specific disease.

First of all, the vessels suffer. In this regard, there are pressure surges, arrhythmia, weakness and other symptoms accompanying panic attacks. Given the characteristics of vegetative-vascular dystonia, it can be both a symptom and a cause of anxiety.

Diagnosis

For diagnosis, the psychotherapist must make sure that the second attack happened unpredictably, without external provocation. A depressed, depressed state between attacks is also excluded.

A solitary seizure is not considered a disorder. For the diagnosis, the frequency of attacks should vary from 1 time in six months to 3-4 times a week.

When the diagnosis is confirmed, the medical history is supplemented with information about the patient's lability, stress experienced and other important information that will help in identifying the causes and prescribing treatment.

Treatment for panic attacks

In the treatment of panic attacks, there are two directions: psychotherapeutic and medication. The most effective is a mixed treatment that has a simultaneous effect on both physical and mental symptoms.

In addition to professional medical care, a person suffering from panic attacks can independently master the methods and techniques that will help ease and calmly endure another attack. Knowledge of how to help a person during an unexpected attack of irrational fear will be useful to people in whose environment there are such patients.

Panic Attack Actions: Proper Breathing Technique

Regulating your breath is one of the first ways to bring back calmness and break the cycle of an attack. To do this, take a deep breath through your nose. Hold the breath. Exhale through your mouth. All actions are recommended to be carried out slowly and repeated at least 15 times until complete normalization of breathing.

Accompanying breathing with hand exercises will help to divert attention from unpleasant well-being and quickly restore self-control.

To do this, while inhaling, you need to slowly raise your outstretched arms above your head. And on the exhale, also slowly and without bending, lower them along the body. Such an exercise will help synchronize breathing with movements, and will also help relieve the feeling of numbness in the limbs.

How to help a person during a panic attack?

In cases where a person is not able to cope with an attack on his own, it is very important that there are people nearby who can provide all possible assistance. First of all, it is necessary to capture the attention of the patient. In moments of fear, emotional support is important for a person, confidence that he will not be left to cope with the situation alone.

You should calm down with a confident, calm and even voice using affirmative phrases that reflect reality: “You are not alone, I will be there, together we can handle it, there is no threat.” In this case, you can first adjust your breathing to the rhythm of the patient's breathing, and then gradually normalize the frequency of breaths.

The patient will imperceptibly repeat these actions, which will speed up the completion of the attack and make you feel better.

In addition to emotional support, physical contact plays a very important role. Massage will help relax tense muscles, relieve spasticity, which is common symptom panic attacks. The more and longer man obsessed with his feelings, the more intense the attack.

Distraction can completely stop a panic attack. For these purposes, any activity involving mental work is suitable: a complex account of objects, writing or retelling a story. It is important to captivate the patient and direct his thoughts away from the sensations he is experiencing.

Medical treatment for panic attacks

Panic attacks, the symptoms and treatment of which are determined by a psychotherapist, are amenable to drug correction. Treatment is carried out in two directions: the cessation of a panic attack at the first symptoms and the prevention of repeated attacks in the future.

To stop the attack, rapid response drugs are used that have a sedative and anti-anxiety effect: diazepam, midazolam, temazepam. The disadvantages of these funds is the development of dependence in the person who takes them.

Control of recurrent attacks is carried out with the help of long-term use of antidepressants, tranquilizers and hormonal drugs courses. These drugs are selected in accordance with the physical health of the patient, the causes of nervous disorders.

The dosage is gradually increased until necessary to maintain the effect. With the abolition of the drug, there is a gradual decrease in dosage.

All drugs are prescribed by a psychotherapist. In the presence of acute or chronic diseases, taking medicines agree with the therapist.

Psychotherapy in the treatment of panic attacks

Panic attacks are more effectively treated with an integrated approach. Psychotherapy in these cases is aimed at identifying and eliminating the causes of anxiety disorders.

In each case, an individual technique and treatment program is selected:

1. Cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy. The therapy is based on changing the patient's attitude to seizures.
2. Psychoanalysis is popular in severe cases accompanied by negative living conditions. Treatment is aimed at finding out the true causes of what is happening with the patient, resolving internal conflicts.
3. Hypnosis. Suitable for patients susceptible to such influence, suggestible. The therapy consists in the psychological attitudes that the patient receives during the trance.
4. Neuro-linguistic programming corrects the patient's response to potential stimuli, increasing stress tolerance.
5. Gestalt therapy helps to identify suppressed needs and find a way to satisfy them. This approach helps to calm subconscious anxiety, makes a person more confident.

The use of herbal preparations

With mild attacks and to eliminate mild anxiety, fees will help medicinal plants with a calming effect. Take infusions should be a course, but not more than 1 month. Then a break is needed.

Plants that have a relaxing effect:

1. linden flowers;
2. Melissa;
3. St. John's wort;
4. chamomile;
5. motherwort
6. valerian.

It is important to understand that systematic seizures cannot be cured by herbal medicine. It is aimed at alleviating the symptoms of anxiety, normalizing sleep, reducing stress.

Prevention of recurrence of panic attacks

Preventive measures can help reduce the risk of a second panic attack:

1. Meditation will help stabilize the emotional state, streamline thoughts.
2. Sports will relieve stress, lead to a discharge of accumulated fatigue, and strengthen physical health.
3. Phytotherapy will have a calming effect, improve sleep.
4. A good rest, which will charge you with positive emotions and restore the strength of the body.

It is very important to change your usual life for the better, to work on yourself.

What should you do to avoid panic attacks?

By reviewing habits, lifestyle, improving yourself as a person, you can avoid panic attacks:

A positive attitude to life, communication skills, the possibility of self-expression can significantly improve the quality of life and reduce anxiety attacks to zero.

What can trigger a recurrence of panic?

An irritant for the formation of a repeated anxiety state can be conditions in which seizures have already occurred earlier. Unexpected sounds, claps, shots can also provoke panic. The situation is aggravated by the refusal of qualified assistance and treatment with medicines.

Particularly sensitive to provocations are patients who have chosen an isolated lifestyle. Each exit from the comfort zone becomes the most severe stress that they are not able to cope with on their own.

The diagnosis of a panic attack is not a sentence to an agonizing existence in fear. Her symptoms are treatable and correctable. But it is important to understand that the result, first of all, depends on the person himself, his desire to defeat the disease and the determination to work on himself and his worldview.

Article formatting: Lozinsky Oleg

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