| Deciding on which panic or anxiety attack treatment to | | | | cause of your anxiety is say, stress from your job, or |
| go for is not easy nowadays as we are spoiled for | | | | problems at home, no amount of healthy breathing or |
| choice in terms of both method and quality. | | | | relaxing posture will get rid of it. In order to get rid of |
| Here are three questions you should ask yourself | | | | anxiety, you have to get rid of the cause - it really is |
| before you dash off and try the first one 'cure' | | | | that simple. |
| suggested to you. | | | | 3. What type of anxiety or panic attacks do you |
| 1. Does the treatment you're thinking of involve taking | | | | suffer from? |
| drugs? | | | | For many people, the best approach is to talk with a |
| The reason why this question is the most important of | | | | trained professional so that a definitive diagnosis of the |
| all is simply because drugs are a short term solution to | | | | type, depth and hopefully the cause of the problem |
| what, for most people, has been a long term problem, | | | | facing them can be properly diagnosed. That's |
| and the person most likely to suggest this form of | | | | because panic, anxiety, phobias and the like can be |
| treatment is probably someone who you trust the | | | | tricky to understand. Broadly speaking, anxiety or panic |
| most - i.e. your own doctor. They will recommend that | | | | attacks can be placed into a number of categories. |
| because that is the only solution they have to hand | | | | The most obvious is that of post-traumatic stress - |
| without referring you to another professional. The thing | | | | where one has been through an event or series of |
| is that drugs - if helpful at all - are really only a short | | | | events that have overloaded the way you, as an |
| term solution that may be able to help get some | | | | individual, handle things that you find stressful. |
| stability in order for you to be able to make rational | | | | Next, there is social anxiety. In simple terms, that's |
| choices in deciding on which treatment to go for the | | | | where people find being in or dealing with crowds or |
| long term cure. | | | | social situations difficult. Even something like giving a |
| On their own, drugs cannot cure problems with anxiety | | | | wedding speech or a talk to colleagues can be too |
| or panic attacks. In fact the best they can do is to | | | | much of a challenge. Then there are phobias and |
| mask the symptoms. Another thing that makes drugs | | | | fears of many types. Things like a fear of flying; being |
| only suitable for the short term is the question of side | | | | frightened of bugs; or fear of open or closed spaces. |
| effects. Just ask the person who says side effects | | | | General anxiety is a broad combination of many of |
| are not really a problem - if they have taken the drug | | | | these, mixed in with a good dose of other things, like a |
| they are suggesting for the same period of time that | | | | fear of driving for instance. |
| they think you may have to use them. That I can | | | | You can see that many of the items mentioned above |
| promise you will be a real eye opener. | | | | can fit into a number of different categories and it's not |
| 2. Does the treatment you have in mind get to the | | | | uncommon for someone to have a mixture of phobias |
| cause of the problem? | | | | and anxieties, each of which need to be understood |
| Many treatments are helpful - yoga or breathing | | | | and all of which need to be dealt with as a whole. |
| exercises for instance. However, what you should | | | | It's important to take your time and try to see for |
| bear in mind is that 'helpful' may not be good enough. | | | | yourself exactly where your problem lies. By doing |
| You have to get to the cause of the anxiety or panic | | | | that, you'll be able to see more clearly which solution is |
| attack - understand why you have it, if you prefer, in | | | | best for you. |
| order to treat it once and for all. Let's face facts. If the | | | | |