Anxiety and Panic Disorders is the feeling of fear or terror in anticipation of a stressful situation. It is not an odd thing to get anxious when you have to face something that makes you nervous, such as attending the first day of college, appearing for a job interview, moving to a new place, or giving a public speech. In the current scenario, when people show anxiety symptoms, Coronavirus can also be a reason behind it. The anxiousness generally starts before the event and dies out after it.
Every once in a while, everyone feels anxious about something, but the feeling doesn’t last long. However, if you feel the lingering anxiety long after the stressful event has passed, try consulting a medical professional because this can be an early sign of anxiety and panic disorders.
Doctors can suggest various treatments for anxiety and panic disorders for fast relief, so if you feel that you might be experiencing this disorder, try seeking help as soon as possible.
What is anxiety and panic disorder?
When a person feels overly anxious, terrified, or paranoid without an apparent threat or stressful situation, they suffer from an anxiety disorder. Experts characterize this condition by anxiousness that lasts for more than six months and interferes with the person’s day to day life.
People with an anxiety disorder are always frightened about some impending disaster or a stressful situation that makes them nervous. It stops them from enjoying the things they used to and prevents them from experiencing new things. Anxiety disorders can occur to anyone regardless of their age, and if left untreated, it can keep getting worse.
Panic disorder or attacks are a type of anxiety disorder in which people experience short bursts of crippling anxiety, with symptoms peaking in minutes. People with panic disorder can get recurring and unexpected attacks that fill them with overwhelming terror that has no apparent cause. These attacks happen unexpectedly, which causes the people to live in fear of when the next attack will occur.
What are the treatments available for anxiety and panic disorder?
Treatment of anxiety can have multiple options, including psychological therapy, medications, and lifestyle changes. If you experience stress and panic disorder symptoms, talk with a doctor, and let them analyze your condition. They might perform a psychological evaluation and run some tests to evaluate your problem accurately and recommend treatment accordingly.
Usually, doctors start with lifestyle changes and suggest some exercises to manage anxiety symptoms. Still, if the symptoms’ intensity is high, they prescribe medications and recommend seeing a mental health expert for psychotherapy like cognitive behavioral therapy.
Depending on your body’s response to the initial treatment, the doctor can also recommend combining medications, psychotherapy, and lifestyle changes to make it easier for you to manage your anxiety symptoms.
What medications help with anxiety and panic disorder?
While researchers have not yet found a medication that can cure anxiety and panic disorder, they can recommend a drug among several available options that will help you keep the symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks under control.
The following drugs can help with anxiety and panic disorder:
Benzodiazepines
This class of drugs contains popular anti-anxiety medications, such as Xanax and Klonopin. Doctors recommend these medications to people who have a persistent feeling of anxiety and panic. These drugs effectively lower anxiousness, but a person can become dependent on them if used for a prolonged time.
Usually, doctors supplement these medicines with other treatment options like therapy and keep the treatment period brief to prevent them from becoming dependent on benzodiazepines.
Antidepressants
Doctors often prescribe modern antidepressants like SSRIs and SNRIs to manage various anxiety disorders. These can often be the first in line for treating people with an anxiety disorder. The common SSRIs used for this purpose include Lexapro and Prozac. Cymbalta and Effexor are the SNRIs used for treating anxiety and panic disorders.
Bupropion
This medicine is also an antidepressant that doctors recommend to treat chronic anxiety. Though it is an antidepressant, it works differently than SNRIs and SSRIs.
Beta-blockers
These are drugs that help combat high blood pressure. They can help reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety, including increased heart rate, shaking, or trembling, and help you relax during a panic attack.
Anticonvulsants
These medicines help prevent seizures, but can also help reduce specific anxiety disorder symptoms.
Antipsychotics
Doctors add low doses of these medicines to the treatment for better results.
Buspirone
It is an anti-anxiety drug that helps treat chronic anxiety. However, you would need to consume it for a few weeks to get any significant relief.
What are the non-medicinal treatments for anxiety and panic disorder?
Psychotherapy
Cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT is the most prevalent psychological treatment available for anxiety and panic disorder. In this therapy, the mental health specialist works with the patient to carefully analyze their negative thoughts and behaviors and teach them ways to manage fearful situations carefully.
Lifestyle Changes
Making subtle changes in your lifestyle and learning a few new things can significantly impact your anxiety levels.
- Learn about your disorder.
- Follow your treatment plan.
- Reduce consumption of caffeinated foods and drinks.
- Avoid drinking alcohol and using recreational drugs.
- Eat healthily and exercise.
- Try sleeping better.
- Learn to relax.
- Keep a journal.
- Manage negative thoughts.
- Spend time with friends.
- Seek help and support.
What is the connection between pain and anxiety and panic disorder?
Anxiety and panic attacks often accompany chest pain, and pain is also a significant physical symptom present in almost every anxiety disorder. A panic attack can cause hyperventilation resulting in low carbon dioxide levels in the blood, leading to light-headedness, extremities tingling, and chest pain. Doctors often recommend pain management along anxiety treatment to help manage both the problems.
Pain Treatment can also help with anxiety and panic because sometimes, chronic pain can cause a person to develop an anxiety disorder. Not only that, but chronic pain might also be responsible for depression. Often, depression can also contribute to anxiety and panic attacks.