Anxiety Self HelpFind helpful information about anxiety.

Your heart is racing, feeling like it is pounding out of your chest. Your throat feels tight and you are having difficulty breathing. Your stomach rolls with nausea. You find yourself fighting to hold down your lunch. All of this is accompanied by an overwhelming fear. You feel out of control, like death is just around the corner.

This is a panic attack. If you have experienced this, you may be one of the many individuals with panic disorder. Panic disorder is a category of anxiety disorder. Approximately two to three percent of anxiety suffers are affected by this condition. However, up to 30% of patients may experience panic attacks at some point.

Panic disorder is a somewhat misunderstood condition. No one knows exactly why it occurs or what makes some people more susceptible to it. It tends to appear in the teenage years and early adulthood. Statistically, more women are diagnosed with the disorder.

It’s also important to understand that the symptoms won’t always be the same either. They can last only a few minutes or even a half hour. The only way you can figure out whether you’re actually having a panic attack is by looking at the symptoms. Whether it’s chest pain, difficulty breathing, feeling the eventual doom around the corner, and a host of other you’re most likely having one. Then again, they can come out of nowhere.

There are ways to control a panic disorder, and one of the best ways is by avoiding the places associated with your attacks. Maybe its small spaces, the mall, or a million other places, but the point is if you can stay away from them you can control your panic disorder a little better.

Research has found some potential causes of panic disorder. If the person previously had a bad experience, they may relate any symptoms experienced then as a harbinger of bad things to come.

The good news is there are several treatments for panic disorder. However, it’s important to find the right one for you. One angle is when your doctor prescribes anti-depressants. We definitely don’t recommend going this route, simply because they’ve pretty much been proven not to work. Instead you will end up covering up the real issue. Plus you have to think about the side effects and possible addiction.

For those that prefer more natural means of treatment, there are some options. Sleep, exercise, diet and relaxation can all play a role in anxiety disorder. According to scientific research, getting eight to ten hours of sleep a night can reduce anxiety by up to 50%. They are also some very good self-help book worth reading.

Some experts believe that stress can play a role in panic disorder. Exercise is an excellent stress reliever. In addition to relieving stress, exercise helps you maintain a healthy body weight, necessary to keeping hormone levels in balance.

Another area to look further into is the use of food. Research has discovered that some foods can increase anxiety. Things like coffee, dairy products, refined sugar, honey, and even maple syrup on those pancakes or waffles. So we recommend keeping a food log and figure it out for yourself.

Relaxation can also be helpful. Whenever you are relaxed, anxiety and fear seem to diminish. It allows the nerves to become more stable, which in turn helps for those stressful situations and times. So you may want to try something like Yoga and meditation. Then of course there is aromatherapy, which helps you relax and keep the stress at bay.

While it may not be possible to completely cure your panic disorder, these treatments can help reduce the severity of it. This will enable you to live a somewhat normal life without the constraints imposed by the disorder.

In the meantime, Julie U. Stevenson has suffered from panic attacks for– years. We recommend taking a look at her story by visiting her website: Panic Attacks and find out how she was able to rid herself of this burden and get her life back.