Cure Panic Attacks Through Interoceptive Exposure.
Panic attacks are often described as "stressful" and "terrifying" by the people who suffer from them. These attacks can begin suddenly and decrease quality of life by causing a person to avoid their usual activities in fear of an attack. Sufferers often dream of having the ability to cure panic attacks.
A quickened heart rate, dizziness, excessive sweating, and shallow breathing are some of the usual symptoms of a panic attack. These signs often occur in conjunction with a feeling of impending disaster or a sense of imminent death. Panic attack victims tend believe that the symptoms are result of something being physically wrong; fairly often, they believe that a heart attack is what is actually occurring.
Having panic attacks can start a cycle that is difficult to stop. This begins when a person becomes anxious when they experience even one typical symptom. For example, a person may begin to become fearful as soon as they start exercising because they feel their heart rate becoming faster. Your body will then react to your anxiety you will begin to experience more symptoms. This will cause more anxiety, which in turn causes more symptoms. This cycle can lead to more frequent attacks, and makes it difficult to stop panic attacks and prevent panic attacks from happening in the future.
There is now a treatment available that can help to cure panic attacks. It is called Interoceptive Exposure and it involves exposing someone to the various physical symptoms they experience during a panic attack in a controlled environment. The person will induce these symptoms on themselves a number of times. This willing and constant exposure to the physical symptoms that accompany panic attacks will help to prevent the person from experiencing panic attacks in the future.
By exposing yourself to these sensations repeatedly, your anxiety will actually decrease in time. The reason this method works so well is that planned exposure allows you to experience your fear in a controlled manner. As you live through the panic, you learn that, despite how scary the attacks are, they are actually not dangerous. Learning this gives you power over the anxiety, and your panic attacks will decrease in both severity and frequency.
While you go through the treatment program of exposure, you will find your panic attacks decreasing in number and in intensity. You will discover that the side effects of your attacks are less dangerous than you feared and you will learn to control them. The exposure treatment can often cure panic attacks, and will without a doubt help you get control over yours.
People who suffer from panic attacks experience many different physical symptoms and increased anxiety. They often look for a way to prevent panic attacks and the cycle that goes along with them. Interoceptive Exposure is one treatment that can be used to stop panic attacks. It involves controlled, repetitive exposure to the physical symptoms that usually accompany a panic attack. The anxiety that goes along with these symptoms should lessen over time due to the increased exposure. The patient will learn that these symptoms are not life threatening. This treatment can cure panic attacks and should help you eliminate the attacks altogether.
Published April 19th, 2008
Filed in Health, Psychology