How Long Do Panic Attacks Last?

2008-07-02T10:55:00.001-07:00

"How long do panic attacks last" is a question many people who suffer from panic attacks have, but unfortunately it isn't so easy to answer. It really depends on so many factors and the answer is different for every person. However, I'm going to explain several factors that may affect how long a panic attack lasts.

A single, sudden attack mostly lasts between 30 seconds to over an hour. However, it really depends on the person going through it. If you manage to stay calm and tell yourself it is just another panic attack and won't do any physical harm, the attack will most probably last shorter.

What can I do to affect the length of a panic attack?

There are several things you can do to affect how long a panic attack lasts. First of all, it is important to stay calm. Tell yourself that these attacks haven't hurt you in the past and they won't hurt you right now either. They are just caused by your brain and the adrenaline your brain releases.

If you feel breathless or dizzy, you may hyperventilate. Hyperventilation causes an unbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your blood and that may make you feel dizzy or short of breath. Breathing into a paper bag helps balancing it again.

Another important tip is to distract yourself from thinking about your panic attack. Watch a funny movie on TV or play your favourite music. Try to keep yourself busy by going for a walk or talk to someone.

Is there treatment for panic attacks?

Fortunately, yes, there is. You can get rid of panic attacks forever, and working towards that should be your goal. All those tips I have given you are just temporary solutions but they won't help you get rid of the panic attacks. You should see a psychotherapist or get a self-help course to make your panic attacks go away forever.

As you see, the question "How long do panic attacks lasts" isn't easy to answer, but I hope I have given you some tips to help you get over them. Nevertheless, you should work on making them go away forever. Click here for more info on how to finally get rid of your panic attacks.

Anxiety - Symptoms and Counteractions

2008-07-01T13:25:00.001-07:00

You are sitting on the sofa watching your favorite TV show, suddenly your heart starts to race, your palms start to sweat, and you feel as though you want to run screaming from the room. You look around you to see if anything is wrong, however you can find nothing amiss. What is happening? It is most likely generalized anxiety, a member of the anxiety disorder family.

Anxiety disorders, which include agoraphobia, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and specific phobias, affect approximately 19 million people. The symptoms can be both scary and debilitating. Some of the physical symptoms can include: increased heart rate or palpitations, sweating, chills, restlessness, and insomnia; while the mental symptoms can include fear of going crazy or a fear of causing harm to oneself or suicide.

While medication, such as anti-anxiety or anti-depressants, is helpful in treating anxiety disorders; there are also some things that each person can do to help control their symptoms.

One thing that an individual can do is to take a look at their mistaken beliefs and how they are affecting their anxiety. A mistaken belief is much like a tape recorder with a message that is untrue repeating over and over in our head. The more we hear this message the more we believe it to be true. For example, if someone has a specific phobia of dogs a mistaken belief may be that all dogs will bite. Rationally you may be aware that this is not true, all dogs can bite, that does not mean all dogs will bite. However when anxiety and panic sets in you cannot think rationally, that is when you rely on your belief (in this case a mistaken belief). Since you are already afraid of dogs, when you are in an anxiety inducing situation, the mistaken belief that all dogs will bite only serves to increase your level of anxiety.

To counteract your mistaken beliefs it is important to be able to create corrective positive affirmations. A positive affirmation is your way for rewriting over your internal tape that holds the mistaken belief. For example, if you are afraid of dogs a positive affirmation may be Some dogs are nice. This meets the qualifications for contradicting your mistaken belief while remaining a positive statement! Use your positive affirmations in situations where you can feel you anxiety rising. Over time you should see a decrease in your anxiety in that situation!

Nicole Ubinger is a owner and Life Coach at Upper Peninsula Life Coaching. She has a Masters Degree in counseling psychology and offers Life Coaching services over the telephone and internet. To subscribe to her free monthly newsletter go to http://www.uplifecoaching.com

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How Long Do Panic Attacks Last?

Anxiety - Symptoms and Counteractions