What are Panic Attacks?

Panic attacks are an experience of intense fear that is caused by a false alarm response. They may occur in specific situations – both consistently and sporadically – or entirely unexpectedly and are accompanied by extreme physical discomfort and highly intense physical symptoms.  The limbic system of the brain (emotional mid-brain) is associated with anxiety in general, while the amygdala (brain's primitive alarm center) is heavily involved in panic attacks in the form of the fight/flight system, an automatic response to danger.  In addition to these biological factors, psychological contributions (such as a sense of loss of control and traumatic events in the past) and social contributions (such as a stressful life) also impact the predisposition for experiencing panic and anxiety (Durand & Barlow, 2003).

Panic attacks can lead to severe social and occupational problems, long-term need of mental health care, and increased risk of suicide attempts.  They are among the most common symptoms treated in therapy.  Predisposing factors for panic attacks include being middle to older age, being married and having higher education (Goodwin & Andersen, 2002). However, anyone can experience such anxiety symptoms.  Both men and women suffer from panic attacks.   The need for an appropriate treatment approach is apparent.

Panic Attack Symptoms

“… I woke up with this vague feeling of apprehension … my heart started pounding … my chest hurt; it felt like I was dying …” (Durand & Barlow, 2003, 117).

Common panic attack symptoms are heart palpitations and pounding, sweating, trembling, shaking, shortness of breath, feeling of choking, chest pain, nausea, abdominal distress, dizziness, feeling lightheaded, feelings of unreality, fear of losing control, fear of going crazy, fear of dying, numbness, tingling sensations, chills, and hot flushes (American Psychiatric Association, 2004).  One or more of these symptoms can occur in any combination and they usually can last anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.  In order to be diagnosed with panic attacks four of these symptoms have to be present and cause acute discomfort.  The symptoms of panic attacks are generally more severe than those of general anxiety and their intensity may lead to a fear of the symptoms itself, possibly intensifying them even more.  Avoiding certain situations that cause panic attacks, however, may lead to further social impairment by withdrawing from everyday life.

Panic Treatment

Common treatments for panic attacks have been a wide variety of drugs, such as tranquilizers and antidepressants, which may have unwanted side effects and lead to dependency.  The relapse rate is 20 to 90% (depending on the type of drug used) when medication is stopped.  Psychological interventions for panic attacks include exposure-based treatments, reality testing, teaching coping skills, and relaxation training, all of which appear to be helpful but frequently some anxiety and panic attacks will remain.  Exposure treatments combined with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) have shown more promising results, while a combination of CBT and drug treatment has not proven to be beneficial (Durand & Barlow, 2003).

In contrast to cognitive therapy and medical interventions, Quick REMAP (Reed, 2006) works with the limbic system directly, which is the “emotional brain”, rather than with the “thinking brain”.  The “thinking brain” is surpassed by a sudden fight or flight reflex or panic attack.  The Quick REMAP approach http://www.remap.net/Quick_REMAP_Page.html is based on the assumption that thinking and logic are not able to reach the source of the problem causing the panic attack when emotions are too intense.  Quick REMAP calms the limbic system (such as experiences of stress or trauma) and restores access to our thinking brain.  It manages to quickly reduce the intensity of emotions and thereby extinguishes the source of the problem without long and emotionally painful treatments, as well as without medication.

Quick REMAP uses evidence-based acupressure points, the activation of which eases intense emotional distress and overwhelming experiences.  With an easing of the emotional distress, a change in the person’s thinking can be observed immediately.  This then results in a different perspective of painful experiences or situations that used to cause intense fear.  In the end both the “emotional brain” and the “thinking brain” have been helped effectively, and the source of the panic attacks has been eliminated for good.  Quick REMAP has provided striking and quick results that tend to be long lasting.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2004). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4^th ed., text revision). Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Association.

Durand, V. M. & Barlow, D. H. (2003). Essentials of abnormal psychology (3^rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth-Thomson Learning.

Goodwin, R. & Andersen, R. M. (2002). Use of the Behavioral Model of Health Care Use to identify correlates of use of treatment for panic attacks in the community. Social Psychiatry & Psychiatric Epidemiology, 37(5), 212-219.

Reed, S. B. (2006). Quick REMAP Professional Handbook. Richardson, TX: http://www.remap.net/Quick_REMAP_Learn_Quick_REMAP.html
 

Copyright 2008, www.remap.net

Schedule a Phone Appointment from anywhere in the world!

Self Help Products