Treating Panic Attacks with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Prescription meds are great for alleviating the pain, in many situations. They are a quick fix for many of our problems. But when we are dealing with panic attacks, drugs are not the best solution. Drugs are only a short term treatment.

The real treatment consists of a mix between drugs, will and natural cures. Drugs have many side effects and the natural cures don’t. Some side effects include: sedation, nausea, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, nervousness and irritability, and also some withdrawal syndromes.

So you need to look for more natural treatments for your problems. There have been many tests proving great results for treating panic disorder and panic attacks. Even when the doctor prescribes synthetic drugs, he usually cuts down the dosage and then switches the patient on natural therapeutic treatments. The cognitive-behavioral therapy is also a recommended treatment.

You should know that without drugs, almost 65% of people have achieved great results and they managed to get rid of panic disorder and agoraphobia. But it is true that at the beginning, it is best to combine the drugs with the natural therapy. In 1993 some studies were conducted on many patients with panic disorder. Anti-anxiety drugs like Alprazolam and behavioral therapy were combined.

75% of the people included in the study group had no more panic attacks after that. The success rate on long term was much better for the group that had natural therapy rather for the other who used only synthetically drugs.

CBT - cognitive behavioral therapy - combines cognitive restructuring techniques with some behavioral modification techniques. This means it is trying to understand the source of the panic attacks and then work from the bottom. The main tools that CBT uses are:

- teach the victims to recognize and then monitor the symptoms when the attack happens

- educate the patients about how the process works

- train the patient in relaxation and breathing techniques

- restructure the mental response of the patients

- expose the patients to different controlled conditions associated with the panic attacks

CBT needs an active involvement by a trained counselor or therapist. It is not as easy as taking a pill but has more efficient results. It can take 12 to 15 weeks till the first results start to appear. But these results are on long term. Many methods, others than CBT, have also been suggested. These methods include: acupuncture, hypnosis, energy therapy, laughter therapy, talk therapy, and also tapping.