Panic Treatment Options

By Greg Anderson

Anxiety is a severe problem, and one of the most serious of the anxiety symptoms are panic attacks. Anxiety and panic attacks can vary in severity, but it is common for them to grow more frequent and more overwhelming as time goes on. If anxiety is not treated, it will not resolve on its own, and in fact ignoring the problem will usually cause it to accelerate even more rapidly. Finding a treatment method that works for you is essential if you are to get past anxiety.

Finding the treatment that you feel comfortable with is very important in the treatment of anxiety. There are several effective options available, and it is just a matter of finding the one that is the best fit for your situation. If you find one treatment ineffective, you will likely find another an ideal solution. There is something out there for every patient.

Being at ease with your anxiety treatment is of course a key element of how successful it will be.

Listed below are the primary options for anxiety treatment.

Treatment for Anti-Anxiety Using Drugs

A large number of medications are designed to treat anxiety. These drugs are primarily found in the benzodiazepine family, and include such medications as Xanax, Valium, and Ativan. Some other drugs are not designed exclusively for the purpose of treating anxiety or panic attacks, but do have the side effect of reducing anxiety levels, such as anti-depressants. Generally these drugs are taken as needed, but sometimes are taken on a regular schedule so as to reduce constant anxiety problems.

Using medication to treat anxiety can be effective, but it is not really a long term solution. These drugs can be very addictive, and should not be taken for extended periods. Additionally, such medications are not able to stop the core causes of anxiety, they just deal with the symptoms.

Anxiety Treatment With Hypnosis/Hypnotherapy

Some patients find that hypnosis is a good option to handle their anxiety problems. Since this method does not use addictive medication, it is sometimes favored over the medicine approach. Hypnotherapy treats anxiety by utilizing deep relaxation exercises to place a patient into a calm state wherein they can explore the motivation for their anxiety. Following that, Hypnotic suggestion is employed to convince the brain to handle anxiety differently.

Ironically, anxiety can be an obstacle to the effectiveness of hypnosis ? sufferers find it more difficult than most to relax and ?give themselves up? to the hypnotherapist. Another limitation is that while hypnosis is effective at treating generalized anxiety it is far less effective (and potentially dangerous) at treating anxiety accompanied with acute panic attacks. In these cases, reputable hypnotherapists ted to accept patients only if they are also receiving professional counseling or cognitive therapy.

Some patients who have anxiety which is not accompanied by panic attacks find that self-hypnosis can be a helpful method of reducing anxiety. Self-hypnosis is not considered a valid treatment option for panic attacks.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, is often used in anti-anxiety treatment and is one of the more popular treatments today. CBT based programs help the patient to respond differently to their anxiety and panic attack triggers. CBT looks for the faulty thought patterns that allow anxiety to occur,and help the patient to change these patterns.

While CBT is a highly effective way to treat anxiety and panic attacks for many people, it does take time. Usually, the patient will need to commit to brain exercises, done on a schedule. If the patient is willing to put forth the effort, however, this is a way to stop anxiety and panic attacks for good. - 32513

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