Panic and anxiety attacks affect around 5% of the population at some
point in their life - usually young people up
to the age of 35.
Standard medical treatment includes a variety of medication to help
ease the affects of the attacks and help gain control at an emotional
level.
However if you are not into medication or natural remedies to treat
panic attacks, then you may want to try the Three Minute Therapy: a
cognitive approach to dealing with panic attacks.
This may be the most logical method of
overcoming panic attacks
compared to seeing a psychologist or physician. This therapy assists
the mental processes that a person goes through when experiencing a
panic attack. There are two stages to this: first, identifying the
"must do"
activities that are driving the panic attack, and secondly
disputing these "must do" activities until you overcome the pressure.
Anxiety prone people are more prone to dwell and magnify things that
they "must do". For instance, a mother of small children might think
that she "must know" exactly why she feels panicky. She tells herself
that she "must" never lose control. She "must" not do something to look
stupid. She tells herself that she "must" have a guarantee that she''s
not going to make herself panic.
These "must do" activities become an unrealistic obsession, and this
develops into feelings of fright, panic, becoming hysterical and
ultimately depression. People with these feelings of panic might also
want to avoid uncomfortable situations so as to avoid further loss of
control.
Using Three Minute Therapy, the panic attack sufferer needs to identify
the "must do" activities in their life. Though it is "nice" to avoid
discomfort or unwanted situations, it is not entirely a "must have"
situation. Being uncomfortable is a perfectly normal human feeling,
every once in a while. So you will need to realise that this is part of
everyday existence and get on with life.
The second step in Three Minute Therapy is to convince yourself that
these "must do" activities are not really that important after all.
This will be a real mental battle for some people, as it goes directly
against the grain of their thinking. As a sufferer you will need to be
persistent and confront these thoughts when they arrive and dispute
these "must do" activities until you feel it is natural to let go with
the situation.
One method of overcoming panic attacks is to practise doing things that
you would otherwise be afraid of doing. This stretches your boundaries
and you will be able to demonstrate that discomfort isn''t life
threatening, and will tend to diminish in its ability to cause panic
the more you face it.
By using Three Minute Therapy you may be able to overcome panic and anxiety attacks without the use of drugs or medication.