Have you frequently felt overcome by an unexpected wave of anxiety and terror for what seems like no reason at all? Then, you might be dealing with panic disorder.
This potentially debilitating condition can cause you to deal with sudden, repeated panic attacks, which may make you feel like you’re out of control or have a fear of death or impending doom. All of which can physically affect you. You may experience physical symptoms, such as heart pounding or racing, chills, trembling, chest pain, and nausea.
Worst of all is the worry this all causes. After experiencing such an intense mental and physical blow, you can’t help but wonder what caused it and when it’ll come back. You may even avoid places where you’ve experienced your panic disorder. Unfortunately, all this worrying, fear, and avoidance tends to heighten your anxiety and subsequently, your risk of having another panic attack.
So, what can you do to pacify some of your panics? Consider these three tips.
Tip #1: Seek medical help.
It may feel embarrassing to talk to your doctor about feeling panic for no reason. After all, there doesn’t seem to be anything that you can see causing it, so it’s probably just you being silly, right? Actually, no! While no one knows what causes panic disorder, many believe that genetics, major stress, temperament, and brain function play a large role in developing the condition. Regardless, the condition is officially recognized by health-care providers, so your doctor should have no problems listening to your concerns surrounding the panic disorder.
If they know enough of your medical history and living environment, they should be able to recommend treatments to minimize your frequent panic. For instance, they may prescribe you EFFEXOR XR®. This medication has performed well under various academic studies, indicating that it greatly reduces panic symptoms and improves the quality of life for people with panic disorder.
If your doctor does prescribe it, you can get it for cheap when you ship it from a licensed pharmacy outside the United States through an international or Canadian online pharmacy referral service like Canada Med Pharmacy.
Tip #2: Get counseling.
If you find you’re not responding to medication, you should look into counseling. More specifically, look for counseling that focuses on cognitive behavior therapy. This form of counseling is considered to be the first-line treatment for panic disorder.
With this treatment, you’ll learn techniques to break the pattern of panic you’ve developed. You’ll have a better way of coping against any fears of panic attacks. And you should stand a better chance of avoiding the cycle of anticipating a panic attack, panicking, and avoiding places where you’ve panicked.
Tip #3: Be open about your condition to friends and family.
As you learn to manage your condition, make sure you’re open about it all with friends and family. While you may feel ashamed of your condition, people close to you may be more understanding than you think. But they can’t show that side of themselves to you if they don’t actually know the severity of what you’re dealing with. So try to work through any embarrassment and tell them.
Panic disorder doesn’t have to control your life. There are ways to overcome it like the aforementioned tips. So give them a shot, and see how much better your life can be away from all that anxiety and terror.
Alison Lee is a freelance writer based in Vancouver, BC. She enjoys writing about health, medicine, and finance.