How to avoid panic
How Can I Prevent Panic Attacks?
Experts haven’t found a way to completely prevent panic attacks. But if you think you might be prone to them, you can take steps to help protect yourself. And it starts with your everyday habits.
The first step is to find out what’s going on. You’ll need to see your doctor for this.” with “The symptoms of a panic attack, such as a racing heartbeat, sweating, feeling short of breath and feeeling fear or dread are similar to a heart attackr other ailments. So if you have an attack -- or think you've had one -- go to your doctor (or an emergency room, if urgent) to rule out other causes and to make sure it doesn't lead to other problems, such as developing the fear of leaving home or creating trouble at work.
Experts don’t fully understand why panic attacks happen. But they do know that the things that make people vulnerable include:
- Family history
- Stressful events, such as the death of a loved one
- Substance abuse
- Problems with the brain or nervous system
- Other psychological problems
Nutrition
Day-to-day life can bring stresses large and small. Taking them in stride begins with taking care of yourself.
Eat right. Try for a balanced diet. Stay away from foods that don’t agree with you, because the reactions can cause anxiety.
Avoid smoking and caffeine. They can ratchet up anxiety.
Don’t drink alcohol or use illegal drugs. They may seem to calm you down. But they can throw off your emotional balance, interfere with your sleep, and conflict with medications.
Your Mind-Set
Do you get stressed out often? Try to figure out if it tends to happen in certain situations. To start, keep notes on when you become anxious and then look for patterns. Once you discover something that gets you frazzled, seek ways to handle it better. For instance, if taking a walk helps settle your nerves, go for a stroll before you face situations or events that might agitate you.
Changing how we handle negative thoughts also can help. In our minds, we all keep up sort of a running commentary about what we’re doing and seeing. Some of us get into the habit of focusing on irrational thoughts that make life harder than it has to be. We might emphasize the negative in situations, or we may think we have to be in control all of the time.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) can be very helpful for learning how to control our thoughts and coming up with practicak strategies.
Mindfulness and meditation are other practices that can help deal with negative thoughts.
With practice, we can recognize what we’re doing and replace those thoughts with positive ones. We can see the good in what happens and let go of things we can’t control.
Your Body
Taking care of yourself physically can improve your state of mind. Think about trying some of these:
Regular exercise. It’s a proven stress-buster and it helps your mood, sleep, and just about everything else. To get the most benefit, aim for at least 2.5 hours a week of moderately intense activity, such as walking, or 1.25 hours of harder exercise, such as jogging or swimming laps.
Yoga, tai chi, and other slow-paced activities. They can simmer down anxiety.
Breathing exercises. When you learn to control how fast you inhale and exhale, then practice it every day, that can ease anxiety. You can also draw on it to help calm you if you do have an attack.
Enough sleep. It keeps you from being groggy during the daytime.
A number of medications are helpful for preventing panic attacks. Consider talking with you doctor about whether this would be appropriate for you.
Your Job
Rough workday? Constant job stress? That can make anyone edgy. If you think it’s affecting you, do what you can to keep your duties going smoothly:
- Manage your time. Make to-do lists and give yourself enough time for each job. If you have a big project, break it down into manageable pieces and set mini-deadlines for them.
- Do tasks carefully, so that you’re less likely to need to take time to correct them later.
- Don’t commit to more work than you can handle. If your plate gets too full, check in (calmly) with your supervisor about how to prioritize.
Perspective
Keep one last thing in mind. Even if you do have panic attacks, you and your doctor have a great shot at beating them. Nearly 90% of people who have attacks get relief after treatment. A fulfilling life is within your reach.
Mental Illness in Children
According to the U.S. Surgeon General, about 20% of American children suffer from a diagnosable mental illness during a given year. Further, nearly 5 million American children and adolescents suffer from a serious mental illness (one that significantly interferes with their day-to-day life).
Which Mental Illnesses Are Most Common in Children?
Children can suffer from the following mental illnesses:
- Anxiety disorders: Children with anxiety disorders respond to certain things or situations with fear and dread, as well as with physical signs of anxiety (nervousness), such as a rapid heartbeat and sweating.
- Disruptive behavior disorders: Children with these disorders tend to defy rules and often are disruptive in structured environments, such as school.
- Eating disorders:Eating disorders involve intense emotions and attitudes, as well as unusual behaviors, associated with weight and/or food.
- Elimination disorders: These disorders affect behavior related to the elimination of body wastes (feces and urine).
- Affective (mood) disorders: These disorders, including depression, involve persistent feelings of sadness and/or rapidly changing moods.
- Schizophrenia: This is a serious disorder that involves distorted perceptions and thoughts.
- Tic disorders: These disorders cause a person to perform repeated, sudden, involuntary and often meaningless movements and sounds, called tics.
- ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder): Children with this disorder are hyperactive and have trouble controlling their impulses and paying attention. ADHD is the most commonly diagnosed mental disorder in children.
Some of these illnesses, such as anxiety disorders, eating disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia, can occur in adults as well as children. Others, such as behavior and development disorders, elimination disorders, and learning and communication disorders, begin in childhood only, although they can continue into adulthood. In rare cases, tic disorders can develop in adults. It is not unusual for a child to have more than one disorder.
What Are the Symptoms of Mental Illness in Children?
Children's symptoms vary depending on the type of mental illness, but some of the general symptoms include:
- Changes in school performance, such as poor grades despite good efforts
- Abuse of drugs and/or alcohol
- Inability to cope with daily problems and activities
- Changes in sleeping and/or eating habits
- Excessive complaints of physical ailments
- Defying authority, skipping school, stealing, or damaging property
- Intense fear of gaining weight
- Long-lasting negative moods, often accompanied by poor appetite and thoughts of death
- Frequent outbursts of anger
- Loss of interest in friends and activities they usually enjoy
- Significant increase in time spent alone
- Excessive worrying or anxiety
- Hyperactivity
- Persistent nightmares or night terrors
- Persistent disobedience or aggressive behavior
- Frequent temper tantrums
- Hearing voices or seeing things that are not there (hallucinations)
What Causes Mental Illness?
The exact cause of most mental illnesses is not known, but research suggests that a combination of factors, including heredity, biology, psychological trauma, and environmental stress, may be involved.
- Heredity (genetics): Mental illness tends to run in families, which means the likelihoodto develop a mental disorder may be passed on from parents to their children.
- Biology: Some mental disorders have been linked to special chemicals in the braincalled neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters help nerve cells in the brain communicate with each other. If these chemicals are out of balance or not working properly, messages may not make it through the brain correctly, leading to symptoms. In addition, defects in or injury to certain areas of the brain also have been linked to some mental illnesses.
- Psychological trauma: Some mental illnesses may be triggered by psychological trauma, such as
- severe emotional, physical, or sexual abuse
- an important early loss, such as the loss of a parent
- neglect -- both emotional and physical
- Environmental stress: Stressful or traumatic events can trigger a mental illness in a person with a vulnerability to a mental disorder.
How Is Mental Illness in Children Diagnosed?
As with adults, mental illnesses in children are diagnosed based on signs and symptoms that suggest a particular disorder. However, this process can be especially challenging with children. Many behaviors that are seen as symptoms of mental disorders, such as shyness, anxiety (nervousness), strange eating habits, and temper tantrums, can occur as a normal part of a child's development. Behaviors become symptoms when they occur very often, last a long time, occur at an unusual age or cause significant disruption to the child's and/or family's ability to function.
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If symptoms are present, the doctor will begin an evaluation by performing a complete medical history and physical exam. Although there are no lab tests to specifically diagnose mental disorders, the doctor may use various tests, such as X-rays and blood tests, to rule out physical illness or medication side effects as the cause of the symptoms.
If no physical illness is found, the child may be referred to a child and adolescent psychiatrist or psychologist, mental health professionals who are specially trained to diagnose and treat mental illness in children and teens. Psychiatrists and psychologists use specially designed interview and assessment tools to evaluate a child for a mental disorder. The doctor bases their diagnosis on reports of the child's symptoms and their observation of the child's attitude and behavior. The doctor often must rely on reports from the child's parents, teachers, and other adults because children often have trouble explaining their problems or understanding their symptoms.
How Is Mental Illness in Children Treated?
Mental illnesses are like many medical disorders that require ongoing treatment. Although much progress has been made in the treatment of adults with mental disorders, the treatment of children is not as well understood. Experts are still exploring which treatments work best for which conditions in children. For now, many of the treatment options used for children, including many medications, are the same as what is used to treat adults. The most common treatment options used include:
- Medication: Many mental illnesses can be effectively treated with medications in combination with therapy. The drugs often used to treat mental disorders in children include antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs, stimulants, mood stabilizing drugs, and antipsychotics.
- Psychotherapy: Psychotherapy (a type of counseling) addresses the emotional response to mental illness. It is a process in which trained mental health professionals help people deal with their illness, often by talking through strategies for understanding and dealing with their symptoms, thoughts, and behaviors. Types of psychotherapy often used with children are supportive, cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, group, and family therapy.
- Creative therapies: Certain therapies, such as art therapy or play therapy, may be helpful, especially with young children who may have trouble communicating their thoughts and feelings.
What Is the Outlook for Children With Mental Illness?
When treated appropriately and early, many children can fully recover from their mental illness or successfully control their symptoms. While some children become disabled adults because of a chronic or severe disorder, many people who have a mental illness are able to live full and productive lives.
It is very important to seek treatment for your child if they are displaying any symptoms of mental illness. Without treatment, many mental disorders can continue into adulthood and lead to problems in all areas of the person's adult life. People with untreated mental disorders are at high risk for many problems, including alcohol or drug abuse, and violent or self-destructive behavior, even suicide.
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