Panic Attack Anxiety Disorder - Why It"s a Challenge For Your Doctor
Those who suffer from panic attack anxiety disorder present somewhat of a challenge for their doctors.
Because symptoms from these types of disorders rarely last longer than a few minutes they are pretty much impossible for a doctor to monitor and study.
What a doctor will be able to see in a patient with anxiety issues will be their extreme concern about having future attacks and their intense desire to avoid situations they believe are causing their issues.
Generally, panic issues are classified as a disorder once a person suffers two or more panic attacks in a relatively short period of time and then goes at least a month or so with excessive fears that more attacks will occur.
There is no magic formula for how often panic attacks will happen.
Some will have attacks once a day or once a week for months at a time while others may have a short period of time where they will suffer many attacks and then not suffer another for weeks or even longer.
So doctors face a challenge in dealing with patients with these disorders; however, there are several courses of treatment the doctor will pursue.
One of these courses will be psychotherapy.
Exposure therapy is a form of behavioral therapy under the umbrella of psychotherapy.
This method involves purposely exposing a person to the stimulant that provokes their attacks.
Upon repeated exposure to the source of their fears, many patients will become desensitized to the stimulant and become more and more comfortable when confronted with that stimulant.
There are two approaches generally used with exposure therapy.
The first is to gradually expose the person to the source of their fear which will give the person more of an ability to control the process in both length of time and the degree of their exposure to their particular stimulant.
The second approach involves inundating the person with their stimulant for an hour or more at a time without relief.
The goal of both of these methods is to allow the person to become more accustomed and comfortable with their fears and to realize they can be exposed to their stimulant without experiencing their panic symptoms.
There is another approach called "systematic desensitization".
This method marries relaxation techniques with slow, but steady, exposure to their stimulant with the hopeful result of allowing a patient to become more and more comfortable when exposed to the source of their anxiety.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is also often used to treat panic attack anxiety disorder.
This type of therapy strives to show patients there is no need to avoid the settings or circumstances that cause their anxiety by helping them to realize there is no real basis for their fears.
This method also involves using relaxation techniques like breathing exercises, yoga or meditation.
Now you have a basic understanding of some of the challenges facing doctors as they strive to treat panic attack anxiety disorder and some of the tools they have to help patients cope with these issues.
Because symptoms from these types of disorders rarely last longer than a few minutes they are pretty much impossible for a doctor to monitor and study.
What a doctor will be able to see in a patient with anxiety issues will be their extreme concern about having future attacks and their intense desire to avoid situations they believe are causing their issues.
Generally, panic issues are classified as a disorder once a person suffers two or more panic attacks in a relatively short period of time and then goes at least a month or so with excessive fears that more attacks will occur.
There is no magic formula for how often panic attacks will happen.
Some will have attacks once a day or once a week for months at a time while others may have a short period of time where they will suffer many attacks and then not suffer another for weeks or even longer.
So doctors face a challenge in dealing with patients with these disorders; however, there are several courses of treatment the doctor will pursue.
One of these courses will be psychotherapy.
Exposure therapy is a form of behavioral therapy under the umbrella of psychotherapy.
This method involves purposely exposing a person to the stimulant that provokes their attacks.
Upon repeated exposure to the source of their fears, many patients will become desensitized to the stimulant and become more and more comfortable when confronted with that stimulant.
There are two approaches generally used with exposure therapy.
The first is to gradually expose the person to the source of their fear which will give the person more of an ability to control the process in both length of time and the degree of their exposure to their particular stimulant.
The second approach involves inundating the person with their stimulant for an hour or more at a time without relief.
The goal of both of these methods is to allow the person to become more accustomed and comfortable with their fears and to realize they can be exposed to their stimulant without experiencing their panic symptoms.
There is another approach called "systematic desensitization".
This method marries relaxation techniques with slow, but steady, exposure to their stimulant with the hopeful result of allowing a patient to become more and more comfortable when exposed to the source of their anxiety.
Cognitive behavioral therapy is also often used to treat panic attack anxiety disorder.
This type of therapy strives to show patients there is no need to avoid the settings or circumstances that cause their anxiety by helping them to realize there is no real basis for their fears.
This method also involves using relaxation techniques like breathing exercises, yoga or meditation.
Now you have a basic understanding of some of the challenges facing doctors as they strive to treat panic attack anxiety disorder and some of the tools they have to help patients cope with these issues.