A panic attack is a feeling of overwhelming anxiety that causes an increased heart rate, loss of breath, nausea and you may even fear that you are going to die or lose control and go insane.
Often, a person can suffer one or two attacks and have no more problems but for many, it can become a regular occurrence and can lead to a lower standard of living as it can cause withdrawal from many normal activities.
There are many ways to treat an on-coming panic attack and I learned that avoiding stimulants such as coffee and tobacco was a step to reducing their frequency.
Other products that act as stimulants like diet pills, non-drowsy cold medicines and any thing that contains caffeine or excessive amount of sugar should be avoided as they can increase the heart rate and make you more agitated, which can then lead to a panic attack.
Another thing I found particularly useful was turning on music and dancing and singing.
It may feel a bit awkward at first but if I was in the home or the car and felt an attack coming on, I would relieve the tension with music.
The acts of singing and dancing would take my thoughts away from an attack and the movement would help relive bodily tension.
While these tips are useful and can lead to a better quality of life for sufferers, the draw back is they only treat the symptoms, but do not eliminate the problem altogether as you still have to live with the feelings of an attack coming on.
In today's society, it is very difficult to totally avoid stimulants in food products and depending on where you are, it may not be convenient to start singing and dancing so these methods are of limited benefit.
However there is a way to not only learn to control your panic attacks, but to eliminate them altogether.
The key factor in causing repeated bouts of panic attacks is the fear of getting a panic attack.
When in a given situation, the thought of a panic attack will usually be what causes the initial feelings of fear and then lead to an attack.
'Panick Away' is a system I have found that deals directly with this and helps rid you of the fear of panic attacks and eliminates the problem for good.