Panic attacks: causes, symptoms and treatment

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

What are anxiety attacks?

Luis tried to calm himself but anxiety, thought and irrational fear seized 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 started running around trying to find some kind of help.

The people who were in that place watched Luis astonished, trying to figure out what could be happening to the young man, why he was running aimlessly. Those who got 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 his anxiety go down, he felt how the heartbeat was regulating and how his ideas and thoughts were going clarifying. Exhausted after that bad drink, he sat confused in a park, in the sight of many people who jokingly commented "he is a poor madman." Fearful and confused, Luis returned to his house without any logical answer to what could have happened to him.

That night marked a before and after in his life for Luis. Luis did not understand what could have happened to him, but he saw how these events were repeating themselves habitually to the point of prevent you from performing his daily tasks, including his studies or having a family life like he had before that night. He was afraid of being alone and of expressing what was happening to him before those distressing states were present, Luis feared that his friends and family would take him for crazy, and for that reason he had kept his silence. suffering.

He decided to entrust to a very close friend the situation he was experiencing, and he recommended that he go to a specialist doctor to assess the case. The next day, Luis went to the medical consultation, but the doctor found nothing abnormal in him. He was referred to a mental health professional, who after several sessions, diagnosed that Luis was suffering from panic attacks.

This little story we have just related is more common than we can imagine. Many people suffer from this anxiety disorder and live it alone, without the help of family, friends, and without professional help. An increase in panic attack cases 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 that crisis where the person experiences high levels of distress and anxiety with intense scary thoughts that something serious could 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"

At the moment the origin of this anxiety disorder is not known with certaintyAlthough there are some studies suggesting that certain genetic characteristics play an important role in the development of these attacks. Such investigations do not enjoy unanimity among the scientific community, as there are voices that warn of other factors as precursors to crises.

Symptoms

According to Trickett (2009), these are some of the symptoms that a person exhibits when they have a panic attack:

• Afraid

• Bewilderment

• Dizziness

• Chest pain

• Tingling in the body

• Confusion

• Tachycardia

• Tremors

• Choking sensations

Panic attacks cannot be predicted because there is no time, no date, or place in which they can manifest themselves, giving as a result a modification in the social, work and family life of the person who suffers it given their character spontaneous.

Many people just by remembering an attack they have experienced in the past can suggest themselves to the point of developing another anxiety attack. Others live day to day with excessive concern about suffering an attack at any time, bringing permanent psychological and emotional suffering into their lives. And there are also people who, fortunately, do not give too much importance to these episodes and lead fully normal lives.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis must be made by professionals, both in medical and psychological specialty, ruling out any somatic abnormality that may lead as a result An anxiety disorder (total medical check-up), or that there is some type of medication or psychotropic substance that the person uses that triggers an attack of panic.

Once the medical process has been completed and all the previous causes have been ruled out, it will be the responsibility of the mental health professional to evaluate the person and warn if you meet the indicators to diagnose the case as a panic attack.

Treatment

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

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

b) Psychotherapy: With regard to psychological therapy, some schools such as cognitive-behavioral therapy have reported great effectiveness in this type of case. The psychologist will be able to provide an intervention plan with the patient where different ways of coping with a crisis are suggested. panic and face any situation feared by the patient with tools and resources to minimize the anxiety.

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

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

Bibliographic references:

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