Medical Information

Anxiety (panic) attacks are so scary because they can happen so suddenly, with no prior warning. And they can seem to last for ages. Luckily, there are certain steps you can take to help prevent them. Below you'll find 3 easy ways to prevent anxiety attacks.




But before we go into the 3 ways to control anxiety attacks, we should first discuss what causes an anxiety or panic attack in the first place...



In simple, non-scientific, terms a panic attack is caused by your underlying stress or anxiety rising to such a high level that it 'fools' your body's early warning defence mechanism into believing you are under some kind of serious threat.



This triggers your body's ancient, natural 'fight or flight' response used to help you fight against danger or run away to safety to the best of your ability. It does this by almost instantly setting up important changes in your body's chemistry.



These changes bring about the symptoms you experience during an anxiety attack, for example, rapid heartbeat, tightness in chest or throat, hyperventilation, sweating, trembling, hot / cold flashes, a feeling of detachment, and, a feeling of some impending doom.



So you can now see that an anxiety attack is just the result of your body's mistaken belief that you were in some kind of physical danger. This is why the medical profession can say that a panic attack cannot cause you harm. This is a fact to always bear in mind, and this fact will actually help you to overcome anxiety attacks.



Now that we know that anxiety attacks are harmless, here are 3 easy ways to prevent anxiety attacks:-



(1) Anxiety / Panic Attacks Are Harmless



Believe in the truth that these attacks are harmless and will soon pass. By saying this to yourself when you first become aware of an attack, you'll be able to help reduce the timescales and severity of an attack. Meet the symptoms head on without fear.



(2) Regularize Your Breathing



During an anxiety or panic attack your breathing often becomes rapid and shallow. This is called hyperventilation. This causes your important oxygen / carbon dioxide ratio to become imbalanced.



You need to get your breathing back to normal as fast as you can. By breathing into a paper bag you can help to offset the results of your hyperventilation and get your oxygen and carbon dioxide back in balance.



(3) Ignore Your Symptoms and Concentrate Your Mind Externally



By 'feeling' and 'analyzing' the anxiety attack symptoms you are only making your fear even worse and helping to prolong the attack. So stop looking inwardly at these and start to look outside.



Look at the physical objects all around you, e.g. cars, people, tress, buildings, etc. Analyze them. Keep your head up, don't look down at the ground.



These three ways to prevent anxiety attacks naturally can be very effective if done correctly. They are really good at controlling panic attacks once they have started. But, alas, they cannot actually cure them.



In order to do that you need to break out of your vicious cycle of anxiety. This can best be described as; anxiety > anxiety attack > fear of an attack > anxiety > anxiety attack > and so on. Basically you need to break out of this vicious cycle by eliminating your 'fear' of having another attack.



To discover how to prevent anxiety attacks for good by breaking out of your anxiety cycle, please go to http://eliminatepanicattacks.blogspot.com for the facts.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Cielo