Panic Attacks: How to Conquer Them
Have you ever experienced a sudden panic attack? Or maybe you do your best to cope with chronic, generalized anxiety that never seems to go away. If so, you're not alone - more than 6 million adults in the US go through panic disorder, while 6.8 million live with generalized anxiety. You'll know firsthand that these conditions can be devastating, greatly reducing quality of life. But how do they develop? Well, they find their roots in a nervous system that's been exposed to way too much stress.
We all experience stressors in life, both big ones as well as minor annoyances, that agitate our nervous system. We often take the wrong approaches to deal with this stress, either. To understand how an anxiety disorder develops, visualize a glass of water. This glass of water represents your nervous system. Each stressor adds a bit more water to the cup. Tough time at work? More water's added. Constant muscle tension and poor breathing patterns? Add more water. Poor sleep and eating habits? More water. You can see where this is going. Eventually, only a minor stressor is required to make the cup overflow - when it does, nervous system has become overly stimulated, and you're suddenly experiencing panic attacks, generalized anxiety, or even both. We need to bring that water level down. While it's impossible to live a life without stress, we can change our responses to stress.
One way to do this is through proper breathing. Your first thought might be, "That sounds too simple, and my problem is complex!" But remember: your body doesn't necessarily understand what's causing you stress - it's not thinking on a complex level like you are. It doesn't "understand" you're having difficulties at work, but only the physiological responses to stress - for example, rapid, shallow breathing and uptight muscles. To illustrate, try slowly breathing from your diaphragm. Loosen your shoulders, let go of tension. You may instantly notice a wave of relaxation, however small. it is. We're now speaking to your body in a language it understands. For more in-depth breathing techniques, check out this page "Try These Two Natural Ways to Control Anxiety."
Next, we have muscle tension. Tight muscles not only lead to things like back pain or headaches - more stressors - but also reinforce your body's fight-or-flight (anxiety) response by making it think there's danger. By doing your best to let go of tension, you let your body know it's ok to calm down. Your body understanding these things is why relaxation methods help. However, their effects are temporary - you may find yourself needing to meditate daily to get any benefit, for instance. So, what about a more permanent solution that's based on the principles of these relaxation exercises? If you've done any reading on my blog, you'll know about bio- and neurofeedback. By utilizing state of the art technology, these approaches give you real-time insight into what your body's doing that's ramping up your anxiety. They teach you how to communicate with it and direct it so that it's working with you, not against you.
Right now, panic and anxiety are your body's "default state." Through bio- and neurofeedback, you learn how to reduce muscle tension and alter breathing patterns in a way that brings down your anxiety levels. As you teach your body over multiple sessions, this new, relaxed condition becomes your default state. We can gain further insight into what you're body's doing by looking at the mind and the way it's responding to stress. With non-intrusive sensors attached to the head - the same kind your family doctor might use to monitor your heart rate - we can see what's happening on a neurological level. Through this, we can construct what's called a "brain map." This is essentially just a profile of how your brain is operating in stressful situations - naturally, in anxiety disorders it's reacting in a way that's making the anxiety worse, which is what we can change through neurofeedback. For more information on brain maps, take a look at the post "How is a Psychophysiology Evaluation Different."
Based on the information gathered from the brain map, we can develop a training plan to bring the mind to a more relaxed state. Neurofeedback involves real-time data that you look at, showing you how your mind is reacting to stress and allowing you to change it. Neural stimulation can work in tandem, where we gently nudge the brain towards that desired, anxiety and panic-free state. Imagine a train track. Each neurofeedback session helps lay another piece of track, directing your brain towards the final station of deep relaxation, a place where it will stay. Once learned, the skills provided through neurofeedback are skills for life. Your brain internalizes what it's learned and applies the desired response in real-life stressful situations, building a stronger foundation. This longevity and continual improvement makes neurofeedback a unique approach - medication, for instance, will only help as long as it's taken (and it doesn't always help). Studies looking at neurofeedback, however, have shown that improvement can continue even 2 years after training has been completed!
So, what are you doing to balance your nervous system today? Take some steps to drain that glass and bring your nervous system back to that natural, relaxed state.
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