Anxiety attacks are a problem that have been growing in recent years. To help deal with them, many approaches have been developed. Each has its own pros and cons. Today you'll learn about some of the best approaches to stop anxiety attacks.
Pills always seem like a great idea. Take one and your problems just disappear, right? This isn't how it happens most of the time. Pills are like Band-Aids, they only cover up the problem. They are only made to deal with the symptoms. They are not a stand-alone solution, no matter how much you or the advertisers would like them to be. If you must, you can use them to smooth things over until you learn to deal with the root of the problem.
There are various things you can do physically to reduce the frequency of attacks. Some are techniques you may apply while others merely put your body in a better state in order to reduce the number of attacks.
Exercise is great to relax your body and your mind. Physical relaxation always helps to influence mental relaxation as there is such a strong bond between the state of the body and the state of the mind. This is an important connection to understand when trying to stop these attacks.
There are certain things you should avoid taking into your body also. There are many substances that can lead to more frequent attacks. Drugs, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and sleeping pills are all things to stay away from. Some have been shown to trigger attacks. For the purposes of keeping your blood pressure low, a low sodium diet may also be beneficial.
Breathing techniques and relaxation are very similar in their goals. Under the physical category, relaxation puts you with massages and getting enough sleep. When you breathe deeply, it signals to your mind that you're calm. It also helps your brain to function more effectively. This is why deep breaths are so commonly recommended during attacks.
There are also a variety of mental approaches. Unlike the physical approaches these attack the root of the problem. Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the most common and fastest in this category.
There is a big focus in CBT on discovering the motives for mental behaviors and reactions. Keeping a journal to record feelings, thoughts, and associations around the times you are stressed is often recommended. From there you can figure out why you have those associations and replace them with ones that benefit your life.
Common exercises for CBT include "exposures." By avoiding a feared situation it lowers self-esteem and makes the fear more pronounced. Should you repeatedly expose yourself to the problem, you may begin to learn to deal with it constructively. Starting with the primary fear can be too much, so you can build up to it gradually.
The other two CBT exposures are the physical and the imagined. The physical exposure helps to deal with any fear of physical reactions from the attacks themselves. Should you find that you're worrying greatly about what is happening to you during the attacks, focused on your rapid heart beat or difficulties breathing, this is for you. It simulates these problems in controlled environments until they no longer cause fear.
The imagined exposure is basically a visualization exercise. You will see yourself overcoming a stressful problem or situation with confidence and ease. This may seem silly if you don't understand the workings of the subconscious, but if you do, you know that such visualizations work to guide the subconscious mind. Done correctly and continually, this is a very effective, although simple, technique.
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