Common Types of Panic Attack Therapy

Many people have found relief for panic attacks through therapy. Since every person and their situation is different, the time frame the treatment can take to show improvement can differ greatly. Sometimes you may need to wait a few months before you can begin to notice any results.

Patience is the most important thing when undergoing panic attack therapy. One type of therapy may work for one person rather quickly, while a second person might need more time, or even a combination of different therapy methods to treat their panic attacks.

Try to be open minded and avoid setting specific goals for recovery such as “This method has to work in one month or it's a failure.” This is a guaranteed way to disappoint yourself and ensure that you don’t see change. Give whichever treatment method you use a fair chance and give it time to be effective.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a common and usually successful way to treat panic and anxiety attacks. CBT is used to assist people start to re-shape their thought and behavior patterns. If you are looking for anxiety or panic attack therapy treatments, it is very likely that you will encounter this in some form.

When you begin CBT, you will likely develop a plan with your doctor. You might be given homework to be done by yourself such as writing down your personal goals that you will use to gradually ease yourself to scenarios that might trigger anxiety or panic episodes for you. You will probably be keeping a journal to record your thoughts and feelings as well as a means of looking back to see your progress in your recovery.

Depending on your condition, you might also be prescribed medicine. There are a lot of medicines for anxiety disorders out there that can be very effective. Medication, though is not an answer. It just dials down your anxiety so that you can start to seek 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 begin any of these on your own. These tools are supposed to mimic some of the physical symptoms of panic 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 breath heavily for 30 seconds or so. Most panic attacks begin with hyperventilation, so if you can start to do this voluntarily, you can start to feel more relaxed and stop a panic attack before it starts.

Also try spinning around several times to create a sensation of dizziness. Dizziness is another common symptom of panic and anxiety attacks.

Run in place or take up an aerobic exercise routine to raise your pulse and get used to that experience.

Panic attack therapy can be a useful way of curing anxiety disorders by slowly getting you accustomed to typical physical symptoms of a anxiety episode. Again, it may take some time to see measurable progress in your recovery so stick with whatever program or form of therapy your doctor suggests.