Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Severe Panic Attacks - News about counseling and mental health for those living in Cary, Fox River Grove, Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Woodstock, Dundee, Humtley and Lake in the Hills, IL

As opposed to the more common milder panic attack that many
people suffer from, severe panic attacks are more dangerous due
to the inherent danger of the illness progressing to a more
serious condition. Severe panic attacks need a different
approach, and their management is often far from
straightforward.

It's quite usual for severe panic attacks to appear in a series
of waves that increase and decrease every few minutes, often
lasting for several hours. It's also not surprising that this
can lead to extreme physical exhaustion, which in turn can
cause a chronic loss of sleep.

Severe panic attacks can involve temporary or short term
dizziness during the period of distress, which can manifest
itself suddenly, and disappear just as quickly. Attacks such as
this can be extremely disconcerting for the sufferer, but it's
worth remembering that these symptoms are the body's natural
reaction, even though they are completely out of context.

Treatment for severe panic attacks

Any prolonged case of severe panic attacks must be treated or
at least checked by your doctor as soon as possible. This is
primarily due to the danger of the panic attacks becoming
self-sustaining - a condition whereby the person becomes afraid
of the consequences of the panic attack itself, which in turn
makes the condition worse, and so on, and so on.

If not checked, this kind of condition can cause an almost
inescapable spiral of anxiety and panic, with the potential to
lead the sufferer into serious states of depression. With
depression on top of a panic attack there is a real danger that
the sufferer will take irrational steps, possibly to the extent
of harming themselves, which is why medical attention should be
sought as a matter of urgency.

Medication for severe panic attacks

There are many treatments available for panic and anxiety, and
medication is but one of them. When considering medication for
panic attacks, the need for treatment has to be weighed up
against the likelihood of possible side effects.

The worst of severe panic attack sufferers may not have much
choice, in which case your doctor will prescribe the necessary
medication. For less severe cases, a doctor may prescribe a low
dose of anti-depressant, which in addition to suppressing the
symptoms will also help any sufferer see things in a more
reasonable way and prevent the runaway panic.

Avoiding severe panic attacks

Although it's impossible to predict when a severe panic attack
is imminent, there are things you can do and precautions you
can take, some of them which work on changing the way you
perceive things. One of the tricks is not to take yourself too
seriously. This has it's own problems, but a more light-hearted
view of yourself tends to produce a more light-hearted view of
the world, and this leads to fewer situations in which you have
the urge to feel anxiety and panic. Another method is to focus
on a particular word, the more ridiculous or funny, the better,
as soon as you begin to feel anxious. This has the effect of
distracting you and diffusing your panic.

Analysis is another useful tool. As soon as you can after a
panic attack, you write down what you were thinking about.
Later, in the relative calmness, you consider what led you to
feel such anxiety and fear. It's a good way to learn about how
your mind works, and exactly what happens during your own panic
attacks, how one fear can lead to another.

Once you have an idea of the process your own mind goes
through, you are then in a position to anticipate things and
you stand a much better chance of avoiding severe panic
attacks. In addition to recognising the thoughts you may feel,
there are also common physical symptoms of the onset of a panic
attack. These include;

* an elevated pulse rate
* increased nervousness and restlessness
* your heart begins to pound for no apparent reason
* you start to perspire
* a feeling of nausea or dizziness

If you begin to feel any of these symptoms, immediately get up
and go for walk. A quick change of scenery will give your mind
something new to focus on and will help to distract you from
whatever caused you to feel anxious.

By reducing panic as soon as it starts, you will most likely
avoid a panic attack all together. This is because you
interrupt the body's physical reaction to your emotional state,
and you prevent the production of adrenalin which in turn
increases your anxiety. Taking long, deep breaths and
concentrating on controlling your breathing will help.

Longer term, you can try to get more exercise and make sure you
are eating healthy. Try to avoid too many stimulants such as
coffee and alcohol which affect your nervous system and
emotional state. If your body is in good shape, there's a good
chance your mind will be too.


Tuesday, May 8, 2007

Benefits of Antidepressants Outweigh Risks for Kids, Teens-News about counseling and mental health for those living in Cary, Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Woodstock and Lake in the Hills, IL

The benefits of antidepressant treatment trump the small risk of increasing suicidal thoughts and behaviors in some patients. The Journal of the American Medical Association study also found that risk is lower than what the FDA identified in 2004, the year the agency warned the public about the risks of the drugs in children.

After that warning, children received fewer prescriptions for antidepressants, and U.S. youth suicides increased in the U.S.

That suggests the warnings could have a net effect that is harmful if they keep the drugs from patients who would benefit from them.

"When you have a black-box warning and within it you caution people that the biggest risks are from the disease and not being treated, people will still pay attention to the headline and not the small print," Brent said.

Laughren said the FDA's doesn't know if the previously strengthened warnings led to the decrease in prescriptions or the increase in youth suicides.

"These are data that are hard to reach any conclusion about in terms of causality, but obviously it is something we are concerned about," Laughren said.

Monday, May 7, 2007

News about counseling and mental health for those living in Cary, Algonquin, Crystal Lake, Woodstock, Wauconda and Lake in the Hills, IL …

What's a Full Blown Anxiety Attack…?

There are several areas of impact from a full blown anxiety attack. First, a prevailing sense of fear or underlying perception of impending doom takes place.

Anxiety is a necessary survival tool. When it is at an appropriate level it serves as an early warning system for what could be a harmful situation.

The anxiety attack is not normal anxiety, though.  The sufferer's body is under attack. There is an unnecessary release of adrenaline, bringing on the 'fight or
flight' reaction; this is when the body senses impending doom and prepares to either fight `to the death' if need be, or flee
for safety. An increased heart rate and hyperventilating can bring about truly unpleasant symptoms such as dizziness, and tingling or numbing that can spread from
the fingers all through the hands, and can affect the face and feet, also.

There is a feeling of becoming paralyzed, literally `paralyzed with fear'. A racing heartbeat, dizziness, lightheadedness, vertigo, and even chest pain mimicking a heart attack can all be present during severe anxiety.

There may also be trembling, or uncontrollable shaking, and itching that leads to scratching yourself to the bleeding point.

Intellectually, or mentally, the overly anxious person is 'just not thinking clearly'. However, facts will not dissuade the sufferer that there is no need for concern. Logic has no current value, and even simple tasks may become too difficult to complete. The
person begins 'over thinking' each move, even brushing their teeth must be thought through step by step and determined to be a safe endeavor.

Talking to oneself, either out loud or internally becomes mentally deafening, and the person may feel she is 'going crazy'.

Emotionally, of course, is where the real pain lies. The complete sense of an impending epic tragedy is not to be overlooked. The terrorized person feels powerless to avoid the danger heading her way and feels totally at a loss to explain the fear to others.

The anxious person's perceptions are so distorted, they may feel as though they are standing outside of the normal pace of time, and that things are racing by them at an uncontrollable speed. Conversely, some sufferers may feel as though everything is moving so slowly, they will never be able to get `out of the way' of the coming danger. This dream-like sensation can be more disruptive to the anxious person's daily life than many of the other symptoms, since it has such a debilitating and distorted effect on rational thought.