Causes of anxiety attacks and Treatment

We are living in a constantly changing environment where uncertainties looming large. The uncertainties emanate anxieties and causes of anxiety attacks can be many. We all fear and fret to some extent. Anxiety is natural human phenomenon. But if it exceeds to the normal level, it is dangerous. You may have tough examination; first interview, new job all causes bubbles in the stomach. We mostly feel jittery in asking for some favor. Imminent down sizing in our organization worries us and tighten our muscle. Alarm bell of unpleasant ending of something upsets us. Experiences such as disappointment in business, in love, bereavement, disagreement within family, fail to attain ambition connect feeling to the emotion and take it toll. We mostly feel unexplained discomfort but we do not recognize who is the real culprit? It is none but an anxiety syndrome.
Anxiety is uncomfortable feeling about something happening or likely to be happening. Anxiety is also a feeling of doubt, insecurity and apprehension coupled with fear about immediate future. Anxiety is the body’s natural response to hazard that goes off when we feel threatened. If anxiety persists for a longer period or cross normal ambit, it may cause serious health problems.
Mostly people worrying not based on facts but on wrong assumption. These non specific worries create complexities which lead to real health issues.
Unfortunately people are not savvy about anxiety attacks and take it lightly as people don’t think it is debilitating until the diseases aggravated and take a grip. That dents a grim impact on daily routine and mars ability to cope with the problems.

Anxiety Attack disorders are categorized as under:

 Generalized anxiety disorders
 Social anxiety disorders
 Panic disorders
 Phobias
 Traumatic stress
 Separation anxiety disorders etc

Common Symptoms of Anxiety:

Common symptoms of anxiety are muscles get tensed, splitting headache, trembling, indigestion without any cause, nausea, diarrhea, frequent urination, numbness, restlessness, irritating and agitating etc.


Causes of anxiety Attacks:

It is better to not let anxiety to prolong. It is also better to race for cure but it is vital to run for the causes.

Environmental problems, job problems, medical factors, substance abuse, genetic are some common causes.

Let us have more elaboration on these causes:

Environmental shock

It is largely believed that individuals’ behavior is a function of external consequences which if it is frightening trigger stress in lives. This includes natural disaster, man made calamity, environmental pollution, traffic rush, insecurity, victimization, death of loved one, inflation and bad economic situation etc. A blast in a busy street killing several people caused a person to not come out from home because of fear of similar happening again in which he sees himself a target. This imaginary death is outcome of environmental shock preventing him to go out and enjoy normal life. Consequently this triggers anxiety and if it prolongs, it has a very devastating effect on his health and life.

Job Problems

This also comes under the environmental factor but explained separately because of the magnitude of the problems and its severe impact on health. If your work environment is not conducive, work at hand is not matching your skill, you have great ideas but they are suspected and opposed without any other reason except it is emanated from you and is not common. Despite your work is outstanding, yet you are rated as average performers. Your dream tatter but you can’t leave as there is great recession in job market. This will burn out you and slowly turn your aversion into anxiety.

Competition

In this era of meritocracy, one has to face stiff competition in every walk of life. If enthusiasm to win is based on positive mindset; it culminates in growth and improvement. But if it is burdened with jealously, it will have daunting effect on health of the person who embedded it with negative sentiment. Such people never see happiness and hurting themselves all the times and ultimately embrace anxiety attacks disorder.

Urbanization

Urban life is devoid of simplicity and more complex. It offers a level of convenience and curse as well. It is also enumerated as a potential cause of anxiety as people living in rural areas have comparatively less stresses, being living a pastoral simple life.

Medical factors

Anxiety is also linked with medical issues organic and non organic functional diseases. This includes, stress from grave illnesses, adverse sides effects of medication, pulmonary embolism blood clot etc. The functional diseases cause no structural change in tissues of the body but affect change in nervous control of certain organs. Functional diseases may develop into organic diseases if emotional upset is not short lived and treated timely.

Substance abuse

People pay greater price for this unhealthy comfort. It is taken as evasion and escape to worries. It is a retaliatory effort to calm down problems and ease the anxiety. But it produces more anxiety and affects the nervous system. It influences the person’s attitude; make him less aware of his problems and less faces the realities of the life. More lethally, it pushes him into death trap where reverse is almost impossible.

Genetics

A genetic disorder is an illness of genes or chromosomes abnormalities. Family history may also play a role in developing anxiety in a person in combination with lifestyle and environmental factors.

Loneliness:
It can be a big factor contributing in anxiety for you and the best way is to learn
how to fight loneliness

It is absolutely harmless if there is a little controllable anxiety. It is part of normal life’s bumps and spills. But if it prolongs, it is essential to nip anxiety in the bud and get it. It should always be remembered that “Care is Cure” and the first step to cure is to know the causes of anxiety. The best way is to take the problems is head on. There is no escape. Life is not always smooth. It has many turns. Every problem has solution. If there is no solution to problem then it is not a problem but reality of life, which we need to accept and live with.

Panic and Anxiety Attack Treatment

We all feel tensed and anxious at some point of our lives. We could feel nervous before taking a major exam, at interviews, business meetings/presentations or even on blind dates. We experience strong sensations like shivering, faster heart beat, sweating and fear, but it’s normal.

Tension at times motivates us to cope with our tasks effectively, and becomes the driving force behind our actions.

What’s not normal is when you begin to get worried about anything and everything in life and it starts to interfere with your daily lives.

Some common signs that things aren’t normal are: when you are unable to concentrate on any task, are restless most of the times, feel irritated, become short of breath. In short- you feel like going completely crazy. If that’s happening to you, then you are experiencing a medical condition that doctors call an “Anxiety Attack.”

Anxiety attack is definitely a medical term, but it’s not an illness or a disease. It’s not even a biological condition that you can develop or catch.

An anxiety attack is only our reaction to stress. At times, we tend to take excessive stress about every single thing in life, hence begin experiencing mild or severe anxiety attacks. These attacks last for 15 to 30 minutes usually.

Sarah, 28 has been a victim of anxiety attacks for the last three years. She began having constant, frequent anxiety attacks, hence leading her situation to an advanced medical condition called “Anxiety Disorder”. She would fret over every thing in her life-from electricity bills to household chores. This caused hiccups in her otherwise normal life, her kids got tried of her nonstop worried phone calls, and her husband became concerned about this major change in her behavior.

It became absolutely necessary for Sarah to seek help. Anxiety attacks are most likely to be cured even by home treatments. All you need to do is to bring some changes in your life lifestyles and you’re cured. Sarah brought some changes her life styles and her situation improved drastically within 5 to 8 weeks.


Following are some self help treatments for Anxiety Attacks:

• You need to take some time out for your own self from your busy routine which does not warrant you to do so. Relaxation s what is required by your body and mind to work properly. The relaxation can be anything from taking a little sleep or watching TV or reading a book. Spending time with your loved ones also has good effects on people who are the victim of panic and anxiety attack.

• Sharing your problems with someone who care about you is surely a help in conditions like panic anxiety attack disorder. A family member or a friend is a good choice if you are not comfortable talking to anyone then seek professional help for your treatment and sharing your thoughts and problems.

• Your body is the carrier of yourself, taking good care of it will reward you in shape of a relaxed and efficient brain. Try to eat healthy like fruits and vegetables this will take out the toxins from your body and will give you necessary vitamins and other nutrition to keep your body and mind healthy.


• Keep your office and business related work out of your home. Taking the office work to home will exhaust you completely and will not give you any time for yourself. You should make a priority for your work and must learn to say no to the work which is imposed by your colleagues for courtesy sake.

• You must have heard about the saying “laughter is the best medicine” and this hold total truth, humour adds colours to your life and make things lighter for you. Try to laugh with a full heart at least once a day it will take all your worries away and make your mind focus on the things which require your attention.


• Try to be positive, seeing the half filled glass will make your mind divert from the sad and negative things and will give you joy in life, life is short see the good things it has given you.

There are several kinds of Panic and Anxiety attack Disorders like Social Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-compulsive Disorder and Panic Attack Disorder.

Panic Attacks are a sudden gush of intense fear accompanied by a feeling of “getting away” or “escaping to safety.” Panic attacks are usually spontaneous and can happen anywhere with out apparent reason. It is a feeling of extreme anxiety and the victims feel that there’s no way out of the situation. They start panicking.

Anye, 26 experienced her first panic attack when the elevator stopped between the 10th and 11th floor. She was found sitting in a corner of the elevator with arms and legs folded, sweating profusely, shivering and her heart was beating fast.

As a result she has developed a permanent fear of elevator. The condition where victims develop fear of a particular thing and begin to avoid them is called Panic Attack Disorder. Panic attacks are common amongst teenagers and young adults. They last for 30 minutes and are usually accompanied by depression.

If you are a victim of panic anxiety attacks or panic anxiety disorders, here are few self help tips which will make you feel better:

• Knowing your medical condition will help you control your situation. The more you will know about panic anxiety attacks and disorders the more you will be in command to deal with the situation effectively.

• Taking medicines which have increasing effect on your nervous system is a big no in the condition of panic and anxiety disorders. Caffeine and smoking are said to have bad effect on your condition of anxiety and panic.

• Deep breathing during a panic and anxiety attack relaxes your brain by sending blood to your nervous system. Try to remember this technique and take long and deep breaths whenever you feel extra anxious.

• Meditation techniques are a big help if you are dealing with panic and anxiety attacks disorder. It helps you regain your focus an relaxes your body and mind.

These tips will greatly help and have no side-effects, unlike some medicines and supplements.

Remember panic anxiety attacks and panic anxiety disorders are easy to encounter, but the key is to “prevent” such situations from happening than “curing” them.

Anxiety Attacks and Panic Disorder Relief

Anxiety disorders and panic attacks are the new age conditions which can make our life miserable and can be a big hurdle in achieving our life goals. The anxiety and panic disorder patients most of the times come up with complaints like:

“I am having difficulty falling asleep, I am beginning to sweat a lot, and I am short of breath most of the time. I get fatigued pretty easily. My headaches are more frequent and I feel irritated. This has been happening for a couple of months now,” complains Tom, 30 working for a multinational organisation.

Tom’s symptoms point towards a medical condition called Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Approximately 6.8 million people around the world are affected by this disorder, twice as many women as men. This disorder can develop at any point in life, though, childhood to adulthood are the stages when most people develop it.

Tom worries excessively about anything and everything. He can’t relax and has difficulty concentrating on any given task. He realises that, at times, his anxiety is more intense than the situation warrants but can’t seem to get rid of his tensions. He has troubles carrying out tasks as simple as filing papers. When his wife doesn’t return his call immediately, he starts fearing if she’s been in an accident, which made him miss a highly important business meeting. Tom’s lost his job due to his medical condition, his social life is a disaster, and he doesn’t use elevator to get to the 12th floor of the fear of being stuck. This condition leads to anxiety attacks and panic disorders which is more of a difficult situation for its patients.

Worries, fears and anxiety are a normal part of life, but a person with anxiety attacks and panic disorder takes things to a new level. It’s only natural to be concerned about your GCE results, but constantly talking about your papers, remembering how well you wrote each paper and calculating marks over and over, is a symptom that an individual is experiencing GAD.

People suffering from anxiety and panic disorder worry about all sorts of things and tend to anticipate the worst of every situation. For example, Tom worries from his wife not returning call immediately to filing papers inappropriately at work. He worries about his health and fears that a bomb will explode in his town when he hears about a bomb blast in another city.



Tom tried self-remedy as it is the best treatment, in case you are suffering from GAD.
You can try Tom’s self help techniques too, to help yourself. He tried the following:

• He coped with his anxiety in a positive way: Tom tried to confront his worries with a positive thought. If his wife hadn’t returned his call immediately, she might be busy or out or probably asleep. If he didn’t file the papers correctly, he could always take them out and re-file.

• He made changes in his daily routine: Tom started exercising which relaxed his body and kept his mind occupied. He introduced fruits and vegetables to his daily diet and increased his water intake. He reduced caffeine as it ignites anxiety and shifted to fresh juices. This change kept him healthy and diverted his mind.

• He practiced meditation and relaxing methods: Tom learnt to relax through meditation and deep breathing techniques. As he relaxed, his nervous system became less reactive to actions and he was less prone to nervousness and anxiety. He felt calm, relaxed and even joyful!

There are different types of Anxiety Disorders; Social Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-compulsive Disorder and Panic Disorder. Panic Attack is a sudden gush of anxiety and fear. It can happen any where and at any time.

Panic stricken people feel like they’re going crazy or about to die. They feel there is no escape out of the particular situation and feel stuck. They can’t think clear, shiver, sweat and are restless.

Sarah experienced her first panic attack about five months ago. She was shopping when her body started shivering and she felt extreme fear. She couldn’t breathe, her heart was pounding hard and she felt like throwing up. Her panic attack lasted for approximately 10 minutes but left a lasting imprint on self confidence her and memory.

“The world begun to spin and I felt scared. I’ve never been this scared in my life. I began expecting the worst to happen; world coming to an end with me dying on unknown streets amongst strangers. At first I thought I was having a heart attack; only when my general physician checked, I was confirmed that it was only a panic attack,” Sarah reflected.

Sarah is lucky to have gone through a panic attack only once. Most of us experience it once or twice in our lives, but if someone’s experiencing it pretty often, they might be having a panic disorder.

Panic disorders are a series of constant, frequently reoccurring panic attacks. Panic disorder is hardly alone; they are usually accompanied by depression, persistent anxiety and major behavioural changes.

If you are confronting panic attacks or panic disorders, there are many things which can help you. The self help tips are:


• Awareness about your situation: You need to learn about panic attacks and panic disorders. The more information you have, the less anxiety you will feel as you will know that you’re simply facing a medical situation.
• Try cutting down on caffeine and smoking: Caffeine and smoking is said to arouse anxiety. Therefore, avoiding these can help immensely. Try avoiding stimulants and pills as they are said to have a profound effect on increasing the activity of your nervous system.
• Try deep breathing techniques: Whenever you feel panicked or anxious, just breathe deep. By doing so, you can relax your nervous system; the blood gushing to your brain slows down and your body calms down.

• And last but not the least, practice meditation techniques: Activities like meditation and yoga strengthen your body’s relaxation. These practices promote calming down of your body and mind and induce feelings of joy and self-control. So make time out for them!

If we consider the self-help tricks to over come anxiety attacks and panic disorder, we gather that the secret of defeating worries lies in positivity and happiness. Being happy and content resolve half our problems. All we need to do is to look at the bright side of the picture to overcome our fears.

Anxiety Attacks Treatment

Anxiety is a part of us human’s daily life in this modern era and we all, to some extent experience it. But the real thing to find out is how to deal with anxiety and what are easy and effective anxiety attacks treatments. Let’s first see how a person feels in an anxiety attack:

Sara, 19 sat numb in the examination hall. The clock was ticking fast and so was her heart. She was sweating in spite of air condition running full. Her hands were trembling and she didn’t know what to do. Today was her Biology examination – a tough exam for which she had studied hard for years. Yet, anxiety took control of her and she sat frozen. Her friends looked at her, understanding she was worried but they didn’t quite understand what was going inside her. She looked pale and lifeless.

Sara was experiencing an anxiety attack. It is a strong sensation which occurs when we are under stressful situations. Most of us go through such feelings before examinations, business meetings and presentations, interviews and even weddings, but the question which puzzles most of us is- “what is an anxiety attack?” and what is anxiety attacks treatment?

An anxiety attack can be described as an attack of fear, terror or stress. It is intense stress that prevents you from being relaxed and calm. An anxiety attack can hit you any time. It usually happens when a person has been thinking excessively about one particular task and starts panicking.

A very common situation where most of us become targets of anxiety attacks is while appearing for an interview. We feel as if our mind’s gone blank when sitting in front of panellists answering questions; no matter how cool we play it. To be honest, being concerned about how your interview goes isn’t a bad thing at all. It’s normal, but what isn’t ok is, if you allow this concern/tension to interfere with your performance. That’s when an anxiety attack is happening.



This strong jumpy sensation is usually accompanied by pounding heart, butterflies in stomach, trembling hands, sweating, tingly skin feelings, irrational thoughts and panic. Shaking feet constantly, mouth dryness or fiddling with our fingers are some of the most commonly seen signs of an anxiety attack. It reaches its peak with in 5-10 minutes and usually last for a good 30 minutes. Most people feel it very similar to having a heart attack.

Tension isn’t always bad though constant tension is a signal of an anxiety attack. Tensions have their good effects too. Feeling agitated or rather concerned about something actually makes us more vigilant, alert and allows us to act on the spur of moment. It reminds and motivates us to focus on finding solutions for the problems.

Generally people who are depressed become victims of an anxiety attack, but every malady has a remedy. You can either help yourself to be cured from anxiety attacks or seek professional medical treatments.

Not that every time you are worried, you are experiencing an anxiety attack. People who do not follow a healthy life style are prone to feeling tensed often. Sleep deprivation, lack of exercise, over worked, not finding ample time to spend with loved ones and relaxing can leave you exhausted and feeling drained.

Following are the ways you can evaluate yourself lifestyle and prevent an anxiety attack through self help anxiety attacks treatment:

• Every day take time out for entertainment and fun. Spend time with your family and friends. At least spend 15 – 30 minutes relaxing, taking a nap or reading a book. Saba, 30 an employee of National Bank of Pakistan recalls listening to music before her big interview. “It helped me relax and calm down”, she said.

• In case you have a problem that’s affecting you emotionally, seek help. It’s alright to ask for help either from a friend, family member or a professional assistance would do well too. For example chatting with a friend before exams helps take your mind off the test paper.

• Take care of your body. Eating fruits and vegetables would do your body and mind wonders and would keep you fit. Taking hot or cold water baths relaxes many people around the world. Indulge yourself into one, if feeling low and stressful.

• Sharing work loads at work and home will help you from feeling exhausted. You can delegate work to your colleagues or simply learn to say “no” from running strainful errands at home if it exerts you physically and mentally.

• Add humour to life. You will live once only so what’s the point of fretting your precious time over petty issues. Laugh heartily at least once a day and it will make life a lot easier. A friend once said to me, “I make sure to have a good laugh at least once every day. It helps me focus better on bigger and important things.”

• When feeling nervous or stressed, try looking at the positive side of things. Every thing that happens has a positive and negative angle. The key is to focus on the happier side than the sadder and you’ll save your self from anxiety.

When the self hep methods fail to help you, it’s time that you seek professional help. You can start by visiting your general physician who will do a complete medical check up to look if your condition hasn’t been caused by an illness such as thyroid problem or asthma. He would also want to know if you’re on any medicines or supplements as some of them are said to have a prominent influence on the state of your mind.

In case, the medical help fails you, the third option to cure your anxiety attacks would be to visit a therapist. Your therapist will diagnose the cause of your anxiety attacks and would devise a course of anxiety attacks treatment.

Remember, to be anxious is good but letting it ruin your life isn’t. Worry is like rust which will corrode your life. So don’t take stress and live your life happily.