Anxiety Attack Medications: Soothing the Frayed Nerves

Anxiety disorder and panic attacks are diseases of our modern times. 'I am so worried' may well be the most oft used phrase of the current era. Work pressure, family issues, personal tendencies and unfortunate experiences in life - they all contribute in the creation of that seven-letter long multi-headed monster - 'Anxiety.'

Our world has become complex and so have its components. Out of these trillions of components, which one acts as a trigger in your body and sets adrenaline flowing through your bloodstreams is a difficult thing to find out. For it is Adrenaline, or Epinephrine, the 'fight or flight' hormone that hits the panic button in your system. Your sudden palpitations, stomach aches, dizziness, nausea and even micturition - they may all be clubbed under the heading 'Panic attack'. Today a large number of patients are battling with anxiety and panic disorders. They experience intense fear for periods varying from one to ten minutes during which their physiological parameters like the blood pressure and pulse rate go haywire. It may even give the impression that the patient is under a bout of myocardial infarcture.

To get suitable panic disorder treatment is very important. Probably when juxtaposed with other maladies, anxiety disorder may not appear to be as traumatic, but its severity is an accepted fact. If it is not properly treated while there is still time, it may end up preventing the patient from having normalcy in his life. Sometimes the patient may even require urgent attention of the doctor or a dose of anxiety disorder medication which if not given, might even lead to his death or permanent disability.

Most such medicines belong to the classes of drugs given below:*Benzodiazepines - alprazolam, clonzepam, diazepam
* Buspirone
* Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors - paroxetine, sertraline, fluvoxamine
* Serotonin Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitors - Venlafaxine, Tramadol
* Tricyclic Antidepressants - Amitriptyline, Trimipramine

However, these drugs often provide symptomatic treatment only, and most of them come with a host of dangerous side effects. For instance, benzodiazepines are open to abuse, can be habit forming and may cause withdrawal symptoms if intake is ceased abruptly. Hence, medicines alone cannot be used as the only mode of treatment - they serve only as a part of the entire therapeutic regime.

One more thing that a patient seeking treatment may do is to hire the services of a psychotherapist of repute. A therapist has the quality of being a trained listener - an anxiety disorder patient has the greatest requirement of this. At times, if the disease is in its less severe manifestation, only a few sessions with the clinician may prove to be curative.

That apart, the psychotherapist has a host of other panic disorder treatments, the most important among which is Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

CBT is an important part of the therapy of anxiety and panic disorder patients. The process has two major steps - cognitive therapy tries to make the patient more aware of his thought process. The patient is made to analyse his thinking and sift the illogical thoughts away from the logical ones. Slowly, the patient sees for himself that his fears are mostly illogical, and this realization helps him fight his condition.

The second part of CBT is behavioural therapy which is responsible for making the patient aware of how panic attack is eating into his system, of how bad it is for him - he is gradually tutored to give it up.

Another panic disorder treatment is Exposure therapy. This keeps in mind the principle that if a patient is made to face his particular phobia with an increasing frequency, he gradually grows accustomed to it.

Above all, we must not neglect a good night's sleep. It is in fact the best anxiety disorder medication available to us. On several occasions, anxiety and panic attack patients find sleep hard to come by and thus suffer from worse trauma. By relaxing and going easy on our system, we can break this vicious cycle. Incorporation of yoga, meditations, massages and spa visits in the routine of the patient can prove highly helpful. Research shows that foods laden with caffeine are the enemies of panic disorder patients. Hence keep away from tea, coffee, soft drinks and chocolates if you want your panic disorder treatment to be a success.