Anxiety and Panic Attacks.

When a member of your own family or a close friend is affected by anxiety and panic attacks it can be very worrying. It is not an easy condition to understand and if there is one thing sufferers will need it is understanding. Why should an apparently otherwise normal person can be afflicted by what can be a life changing condition?

Anxiety is a negative emotion which can in the worse cases lead to depression or physical signs such as chest pains, nausea or palpitations. Some degree of anxiety in certain circumstances is perfect normal but when a person can no longer control these feelings it has become a serious problem and medical advice should be sought.

When someone suffers a panic attack they will experience a variety of symptoms which might include difficulty in breathing, dizziness, chest pains and hot flushes. They could also fear that they are going to die.

The attacks will typically reach their height within 10 minutes and then sufferer will slowly return back to normal. The fear of these attacks can lead people to change there complete outlook on life. Former easy out going types can become sullen and introverted. In the worst cases, as for instance with acrophobia, the sufferer will not even leave their home.

Within the general term of anxiety there are four distinct types of disorder, panic attacks, phobias, obsessive compulsive and general anxiety disorders. If a member of your family suffers from any of these types of disorders they will need your help and support. The worst thing you can do is to tell them to "snap out of it".

There are treatments that can help sufferers of anxiety disorders and these can take the form of specialist therapy, drugs or a combination of the two. Whilst a sufferer may fear the panic attacks or want to be rid of their phobia they often believe they are not capable of overcoming it. Therefore you will need to encourage them to take that first important step of going to see a specialist and then supporting them through out their treatment. Then hopefully after treatment your family member will once again return back the person they were before the anxiety attacks began.