Apr 05 2009
Overcoming Panic or Anxiety Attacks
There is an unbelievable 20 million people in America suffer from some type of anxiety or panic disorders. If you have suffered one or are plagued with these attacks, you know what I mean, you can not breathe, the heart is pounding, sweaty palms, biting or picking at fingernails and a sense of helplessness comes over you. For me, they seem to come out of the blur for no reason.
In a normal situation our instinct and genetic makeup gives us anxiety and panic attacks, it is the fight or flight instinct within us. Where would we be if early man did not run from the saber tooth tiger? It was the fight or flight instinct that took over to protect him. Therefore we do not need to eliminate these feeling altogether, only enough to function throughout the day with less anxiety.
It has been widely accepted and doctors agree that anxiety disorders and panic attacks are a serious and sometimes debilitating condition for the sufferer. There are various degrees and different types of panic/anxiety attacks. For instance a panic disorder is where you suffer recurrently from panic attacks as classified by the National Institute of Mental Health, or NIMH. Generalized panic disorder (GAD) is people that are chronic worriers. They worry needlessly and endlessly over the smallest thing for a long period of time. Although worry is natural the excessive worry that GAD suffers will also encompass the whole family with constant tension and anxiety that the chronic worrier goes through.
Social anxiety has recently been included as part of the anxiety disorder family. People who suffer from this type of anxiety used to be labeled as shy and/or unsociable. However it is a real anxiety that affects a multitude of people. Social anxiety like any of the other anxiety disorders is curable, but is best if is caught in the early stages before it escalates out of hand. Additionally, social anxiety does not necessarily mean you are shy or un-sociable; it is a fear being in a socially humiliating situation, being in a situation where you might be embarrassed, or feeling that you will be made to feel incompetent and have heightened feelings of self awareness.
Are panic/anxiety attacks genetic? Scientific opinion is currently divided and the answer can go both ways depending on what research study you read. For a lot of people there are reasons to believe that it is genetic because there has been a family history of some type of anxiety disorder.
There are other panic/anxiety attack illnesses such Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome, Obsessive/compulsive disorders, Agoraphobia: the avoidance of heights, crowds or other activities is the principal of the agoraphobic, which in extreme cases can leave a person housebound throughout his/her life. These disorders are treatable and/or curable.
I hope you also take time to view my other posts on healthy and green living.
