Panic attacks: causes, symptoms, and treatment

What does a person having a panic attack experience? We explain.

It was a Thursday afternoon and Luis was leaving the university on his way home, as usual.as usual. He was walking purposefully and everything seemed normal, but suddenly he began to feel strange sensations that he had never felt before. Anxiety, tremors throughout his body, tachycardia, extreme anxiety and a totally irrational thought "I'm going to die!

What are anxiety crises?

Luis tried to calm down but the anxiety, the thought and the irrational fear took over him, he found it impossible to calm down.He believed that what was going through his mind was about to happen, and in an almost instinctive act he began to run towards all sides trying to find some kind of help.

The people who were in that place watched Luis with astonishment.trying to decipher what could be happening to the young man, why he was running aimlessly. Those who came closer to Luis could hear a desperate cry, "I don't want to die!"

When more than ten minutes had passed since the mishap, Luis felt how his anxiety was descending, he felt how his heartbeat was regulating and how his ideas and thoughts were becoming clearer. Exhausted after that bad drink, he remained seated and confused in a park, in front of many people who commented mockingly "he is a poor fool". Scared and confused, Luis returned home without any logical answer as to what could have happened to him.

That night marked a before and after in Luis' life.. Luis did not understand what could have happened to him, but he saw how these events kept repeating themselves habitually to the point of preventing him from carrying out his daily tasks, including his studies or having a family life as he had before that night. He was afraid to be alone and to express what was happening to him before those distressing states became present, Luis feared that his friends and family would take him for crazy, and for that reason he had kept silent about his suffering.

He decided to confide in a close friend about the situation he was going through, and the friend recommended that he go to a doctor.He decided to confide in a close friend, who recommended that he see a medical specialist to evaluate the case. The next day, Luis went to the doctor's office, but the doctor did not find anything abnormal in him. He was referred to a mental health professional who, after several sessions, diagnosed Luis as suffering from panic attacks.

This little story we have just told is more common than we can imagine. Many people suffer from this anxiety disorder and live it alone, without help from family, friends or professional help. An increase in cases of panic attacks has been reported in young people between 15 and 25 years of age, with women being the main affected.

What is a panic attack

A panic attack is a crisis where the person experiences high levels of anguish and anxiety with intense terrifying thoughts that something serious may happen. that something serious may happen.

As Shirley Trickett (2009) indicates in her book "How to overcome panic attacks" panic attacks are defined as "an aggravated response to an irrational fear".

Currently the origin of this anxiety disorder is not known with certainty.Although there are some studies suggesting that certain genetic characteristics play an important role in the development of these attacks. Such research is not unanimous among the scientific community, as there are voices that warn of other factors as precursors of seizures.

Symptoms

According to Trickett (2009), these are some of the symptoms that a person presents when suffering from symptoms that a person presents when suffering a panic attack:

• Fear

• Bewilderment

• Dizziness

• Chest pain

• Tingling in the body

• Confusion

• Tachycardia

• Tremors

• Choking sensations

Panic attacks cannot be predicted because there is no time, date or place where they can manifest themselves, resulting in a change in the social, work and family life of the person who suffers them due to their spontaneous nature.

Many people, just by remembering an attack they have experienced in the past, can become suggestible to the point of developing another anxious attack. Others live day by day with an excessive worry of suffering an attack at any moment, bringing to their life a permanent psychological and emotional suffering. And there are also people who, fortunately, do not give excessive importance to these episodes and lead a fully normal life.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis must be made by professionals, both in medical and psychological specialties, discarding any somatic anomaly that may result in an anxiety disorder (total medical review), or that there is some type of medication or psychotropic substance that the person consumes and that triggers a panic attack.

Once the medical process is completed and all of the above causes have been ruled out, it will be the responsibility of the mental health professional to evaluate the person and to notice if it fulfills the indicators to diagnose the case as a panic attack..

Treatment

There are two types of treatment for anxiety attacks, and both can be combined:

(a) Pharmacologicala) Pharmacological: treatment with anxiolytics and antidepressants, obviously under medical prescription. Only a psychiatrist is authorized to prescribe what type of medication and during what period the drug dose will be administered.

b) PsychotherapyAs far as psychological therapy is concerned, some schools such as cognitive-behavioral therapy have reported great efficacy in this type of cases. The psychologist will be able to provide an intervention plan with the patient suggesting different ways to face a panic crisis and face any situation feared by the patient with tools and resources to minimize anxiety.

For best results a combination of the two treatments is ideal and recommended. Some professionals recommend other types of techniques that can complement the treatment, although they are outside the scientific field, they can be considered if the patient finds pleasure in practicing them, such as yoga, meditation, etc.

The emotional support that can be provided to a person who is going through this type of cases will always be important. As Sigmund Freud said, "Modern science has not produced a soothing medicine as effective as kind words are."

Bibliographical references:

• Trickett, S. (2009). How to overcome panic attacks. Editorial Hispano - Europea. Barcelona - Spain.