CBT for Panic Attacks

Lots of people have used therapy to relieve panic disorders. Because every person and their condition is not the same, the time frame the therapy can take to show improvement can differ significantly. Sometimes you may need to wait several months before you can start to notice any improvements.

Patience is the most important consideration when undergoing panic attack therapy. One form of treatment may be effective for one person rather quickly, while another person might need more time, or even a combination of different treatment types to treat their panic attacks.

Try to be open minded and avoid setting specific goals for recovery such as “I’m going to quit if I don’t see any results in one month.” This is a sure way to frustrate yourself and make sure that you don’t see progress. Give whichever therapy method you try a fair opportunity and give it time to show results.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a commonly-used and usually effective method to ease panic and anxiety attacks. CBT is used to help people begin to re-shape their thinking and behaviors. If you are looking for anxiety or panic attack therapy treatments, it is very probable that you will encounter this in some form.

When you start out with CBT, you will probably design a plan with your doctor. You might be asked to do homework to be completed by yourself such as writing down your personal goals that you will use to slowly ease yourself to situations that might trigger anxiety or panic episodes for you. You will likely be recording your thoughts and feelings in a journal as well as a way of looking back to see your successes in your recovery.

Depending on your situation, you might also be given medicine. There are a good deal of medicines for panic disorders out there that can be quite effective. Medication, though is not an answer. It just dials down your anxiety so that you can start to try out an effective recovery program.

Here are some common exercises you may be asked to do as part of your panic attack therapy regimen. Please talk to your doctor though before you try any of these on your own. These exercises are intended to mimic some of the physical symptoms of anxiety attacks so that you can get used to experiencing them knowing that you are in full control of what is happening and gradually desensitize yourself from them.

First, you might try to hyperventilate for 30 seconds or so. It is common that panic attacks begin with short and shallow breaths, so if you can begin to do this voluntarily, you can start to feel more relaxed and derail an anxiety attack before it starts.

Also try spinning in circles to create a feeling of dizziness. Dizziness is another common indicator of panic and anxiety attacks.

Jog in place or take up an aerobic exercise routine to raise your heart rate and get comfortable with that experience.

Panic attack therapy can be an effective way of curing anxiety disorders by slowly getting you accustomed to common physical symptoms of a anxiety attack. Again, it may take some patience to see measurable success in your recovery so don’t give up on whatever program or form of therapy your doctor suggests.