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It can be difficult to overcome panic attacks, but there are treatments and therapies. Sometimes you have to try several or combine, but the vast majority of people are able to reduce or eliminate acute anxiety attacks through these measures.
Therapies
The effectiveness of psychotherapy for treating anxiety disorders is well established. It is even the preferred treatment in many cases, before having to resort to drugs.
To treat anxiety attacks, therapy of choice is cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT. However, it may be worthwhile to involve another type of psychotherapy (analytical therapy, systemic, etc.) to avoid the symptoms move to reappear in other forms.
In practice, CBT usually take place in 10 to 25 sessions spaced a week, individual or group.
Therapy sessions are designed to inform on the state of panic and gradually change the "false beliefs," the misinterpretation and negative behaviors associated to replace them with more knowledge rational and realistic.
Several techniques can learn to stop the attacks, and to calm down when you feel the anxiety rising. Simple exercises should be done one week to another in order to progress. Note that CBT is helpful in reducing symptoms, but their goal is not to define the origin, the cause of the emergence of these panic attacks.
In other methods, assertiveness can be effective in improving the control of emotions and develop new behaviors adapted to react to situations deemed scary.
Analytic psychotherapy (psychoanalysis) can be useful when there are conflicting underlying elements related to psycho-emotional development of the individual.Drugs
Among the pharmacological treatments, several classes of drugs have been proven to reduce the frequency of attacks of acute anxiety.
Antidepressants are the treatment of choice, followed by anxiolytics (Xanax ®), however, who have a higher risk of addiction and side effects. These are therefore reserved for the treatment of the crisis, when it is prolonged and treatment is necessary.
In France, the two types of antidepressants recommandés5 to treat panic disorder over the long term:
- selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the principle is to increase the amount of serotonin in the synapses (the junction between two neurons) by inhibiting the reuptake of the latter. It is recommended especially paroxetine (Paxil ® / Paxil ®), escitalopram (Seroplex ® / Lexapro ®) and citalopram (Seropram ® / Celexa ®)
- tricyclic antidepressants such as (Anafranil ®) clomipramine.
In some cases, (Effexor ®) may also be prescribed venlafaxine.
Antidepressant treatment is initially prescribed for 12 weeks, then an assessment is made to determine further processing or modification.
