Scientists have long established that almost half of the world's population is affected by a condition such as panic. What it is, you need to know in order to be able to prevent it. This is not as harmless as it seems at first glance. If you need to understand how to treat a condition such as panic, what this pathology is, you need to find out first.
So, this is an individual or mass fear (horror) that arises under the influence of a clear or imaginary threat. The condition is accompanied by various somatic disorders in the body and has its own symptoms. Most often, this condition is diagnosed in people aged 20 to 40 years. In most cases, a person tries to avoid those places or factors that provoked an attack. If pathology develops further, then social maladaptation will only intensify.
Development reasons
Anxiety, panic, horror arise as a result of:
- Severe emotional shocks or stresses that the nervous system cannot handle.
- Conflicts with people.
- Very bright light or loud sound.
- Reception of hormonal medications.
- Pregnancy or abortion.
- Reception of alcoholic drinks.
- Atmospheres of uncertainty arising in a large group of people.
- Real or imaginary danger to human health or life.
- The need to make decisions or act without an informed plan in a short amount of time.
- Mental illness.
- Psychological factors (a difficult childhood, in which all negative emotions were forced into the subconscious).
A state of panic can occur several times a week or not appear at all if the human body is not affected. Most often, after such an attack, a person feels drowsiness and some relief.
A panic attack is characterized by the fact that it carries severe stress for a person, but does not pose any serious threat to life.
How is the pathological condition manifested?
Symptoms of panic include:
- Heart rate too fast.
- Increased sweating.
- Hand tremors, internal trembling, chills.
- Sensation of heaviness of breath, shortness of breath, suffocation.
- Pain in the heart.
- Nausea.
- Discomfort in the abdomen.
- Dizziness, impaired coordination, fainting.
- Sensation of depersonalization.
- Fear of committing uncontrolled acts.
- Tingling in limbs or numbness in some parts of the body.
- Fear of death.
- Insomnia.
- Confusion.
- Rapid urination.
- Hearing and visual impairment.
- Lump in throat, difficulty swallowing.
- Convulsive manifestations.
- Violation of sexual function.
- Stiffness of movements or vice versa - increased mobility.
Presented symptoms usually occur suddenly. However, a panic attack can be the result of mental disorders, so it can develop even without any reason.
Components and panic attack development mechanism
Panic (that this condition is dangerous is already known) is a serious violation that includes the following components:
- Anxiety (severe fear, discomfort in the chest and muscle tension).
- Vegetative symptoms (lack of air, chills, increased blood pressure).
- Other signs (dizziness, feeling of disorientation in the surrounding area).
The duration of a panic attack varies: from a few minutes to an hour. Subsequently, a person has a feeling of frustration and fatigue throughout the rest of the day.
If such attacks are observed too often, the doctor may diagnose the patient with a mental disorder. That is, people in this case live with a constant expectation of a new attack.
Excitement, panic is an unpleasant condition that develops in stages. The mechanism of its appearance is as follows:
- First, a person gets into a stressful situation, which contributes to the release of a large amount of adrenaline into the blood.
- Further, the blood vessels narrow and the heart rate rises.
- Now there is an increase in breathing, which leads to a decrease in the concentration of carbon dioxide in the blood.
At the same time, the more panic and horror develops, the more symptoms appear, so a vicious circle is obtained. This is characteristic of individual cases of a pathological condition.
Mass panic develops like this:
- The stimulus first appears.
- Further, individual people begin to react emotionally to it and sow panic in the crowd.
- Emotionally infected people begin to maintain a pathological condition.
- There is a cry, an escape in which people can die. Moreover, screaming can only increase a panic state.
- Restoring calm, apathy as a result of loss of strength.
That is, such a condition can be extremely dangerous for human life.
Classification of Panic Attacks
Panic behavior can be classified as follows:
1. Reaching people:
- Individual. It is characteristic of only one person, for example, for a student passing an exam, or for a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.
- Bulk. In this case, many people experience this pathological condition at once. Various natural disasters provoke it (fire, flood) or social factors.
2. By nature:
- Behavioral. Actions in this case are meaningful, but dictated by emotions. And far from always they are an adequate response to the threat. The development and decay of such a panic attack occurs gradually. It is characteristic of her that she arises in some social groups or among the population. In a crowd, it usually does not develop.
- Affective. It is just characteristic of the group, which quickly became overwhelmed by a strong sense of horror and fear. At first, panic is noted in individuals who can quickly instill something. Further, this mood spreads to the whole crowd. At the same time, the group has a state of hysteria, psychosis. Such a panic is considered very dangerous, since the crowd practically does not control their actions, and perceives reality inadequately.
3. By forms of manifestation:
- Panic mood. This state is inherent not only to individuals, but also to entire sections of society. The behavior of people in this case is difficult to predict, since random incentives can change it.
- Exodus. This is an extremely dangerous condition, which is characterized by the flight of people from imaginary or real danger. Moreover, it is often unconscious.
- Economic panic. It occurs mainly on bank exchanges during the financial crisis, price increases, and inflation.
Whatever the panic attacks, the symptoms and treatment of this condition are determined by the doctor. You yourself can not cope with this problem.
Features of the diagnosis of pathology
It must be remembered that any insignificant factor in a sensitive person can cause panic, that such a disease must be diagnosed differentially, since it can be part of another anxiety disorder. So, the definition of the disease is made according to the following parameters:
- During an attack, the patient has at least 4 of the symptoms listed above.
- The development of this condition is unexpected, and also it cannot be provoked by increased attention from other people.
- There are at least 4 seizures per month.
In order to be able to reliably make a diagnosis, it is necessary that:
- Panic attacks or attacks of autonomic anxiety occurred at least once a month. Moreover, it is not necessary to have circumstances that are not related to a real or objective threat.
- The pathological condition was not limited to predictable situations.
- Between panic attacks there were calm periods when disturbing symptoms were not observed or had minimal severity.
The main methods of treatment
A person with a weak nervous system, high sensitivity to external psychological stimuli can experience panic. What to do in this case, it is important to know in order to reduce the negative consequences of pathology.
In most cases, therapy is performed on an outpatient basis. Only extremely severe forms of pathology require hospitalization. Naturally, the treatment of each patient should be individual and comprehensive.
It includes:
- Emotional support for the patient.
- Physiotherapeutic methods.
- Psychotherapy and other treatments.
- Taking medications.
Features of drug treatment of PA
Panic (what it is, is already clear) requires the intervention of doctors. Often, medications are used for therapy, which are quite a lot in pharmacies today. They help reduce the number of seizures, although each medicine has its own side effects that can worsen the condition of the patient.
To calm the patient, the following drugs are used:
- Tincture of valerian, motherwort or peony.
- "Valocordin" (provides a sedative effect).
- More serious drugs: "Diazepam", "Temazepam" (the effect occurs within 15-20 minutes). These funds are used to stop the attack.
- To control the pathology, antidepressants, tranquilizers, nootropics, beta-blockers can be used. The dosage, as well as the duration of therapy in this case, is strictly determined by the doctor.
Psychotherapy in the treatment of pathology
This method of combating panic attacks is the main and most appropriate. There are such psychotherapeutic methods of therapy:
- Cognitive behavioral (the most used). Here, the specialist gradually tries to change the person’s attitude to the problem. An explanation of the mechanism of development of a pathological condition is made. That is, the psychotherapist must teach the patient not to be afraid of alarming symptoms, not to panic immediately.
- Hypnosis. The advantage of this technique is a quick result. Here the suggestion is mainly used. However, not every patient succumbs to hypnosis.
- Family psychotherapy. In this case, work is carried out with all relatives of the patient, and not only with him.
- Psychoanalysis. The disadvantage of this method is its duration. That is, treatment can take more than one year.
- Neuro-linguistic programming. Here, the specialist tries to change the person’s view of the circumstances that cause a panic attack.
- Body-oriented psychotherapy. The emphasis in this case is on the bodily sensations of the patient. To achieve a positive effect, breathing exercises are used, as well as methods of relaxation and muscle tension.
Other treatments
If for some reason several negative factors have combined that cause fear in a person, they may panic. Probably every second inhabitant of the planet knows what this is.
To combat this pathology, not only medications, but also physiotherapeutic procedures are used:
- Swimming in the pool.
- Massage with the use of aromatic oils that help relax a person.
- Spa treatment.
- Acupuncture.
Additional methods of treatment are:
- Autotraining. They help restore the normal functionality of the autonomic nervous system, suppress negative emotions. In this case, special exercises of respiratory gymnastics, tension and relaxation of the muscular system are used. In addition, an important part of the training is the pronunciation of verbal formulas having a certain sequence.
- Yoga.
Pathology Prevention
In order to prevent panic attacks from happening again, it is imperative to follow these recommendations:
- You should actively deal with increased anxiety and depression. This requires not only medications, but also the advice of a psychologist (psychotherapist).
- Using traditional and non-traditional methods, stress resistance needs to be developed. Here relaxation, meditation, herbal medicine, self-control practices will help.
- It is advisable to learn to live positively, to appraise any situation adequately. There are no hopeless situations.
- Periodically, you need to give vent to negative emotions.
- It is important to lead a healthy lifestyle: eat right, exercise, relax properly.
- Do not focus on those mistakes that were made in the past. You need to try to increase your self-esteem.
That's all the information on the topic. We examined panic attacks, symptoms, and treatment for this condition. It is very important to take care not only of your physical, but also mental health, as everything is interconnected in the human body. It is best to prevent panic attacks. Be healthy!