Feb 2010 - Michigan South Asian

Page 15 February 2010 Michigan South AsianHaving Anxiety And Panic Attacks? You Are Not Alone! !(Continued from Page 1)shaking, perspiring, feelingdizzy or fuzzy, along with asinking sensation, weaknessin your legs; and a smotheringsensation, or that you are aboutto pass out. If so, you are notalone. There are millions ofpeople who go through similarexperiences, from time to time,at school, church, shoppingmall, crowded places, and evenin the sanctity of their ownhome.For some, these symptoms maybe so severe that they may notbe able to carry on their dailyactivities. This is an example ofa panic attack.Then, there are others whohave a general anxiety ornervousness for years, and gethooked on prescription pills,alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes tosuppress their symptoms. Theyalso experience nervousness,palpitation, sweating, and somedizziness, but, not to the extentexperienced by people withpanic attacks. Chronic anxietymay indeed be an external expressionof a mild depression.Panic attacks and anxiety disordersmaybe related to a familyhistory, a past traumatic experience,a bad relationship, stressat work place, financial crisis,and others. It may also representan emotional problem,where an individual dreadsfacing a situation and getsabscessed and overwhelmed byall things that can go wrong.That person may exhaust allthe energy in the negativethoughts, and thus allowing notime for the mind to respondnormally to a simple challenge.As a result, a person may feelvery nervous, weak, dizzy,and experience all other panicsymptoms just thinking of thedreaded outcome, which, inmany cases, may never happen.Most people with panic disorderor anxiety live re-creatingthe unpleasant past, and dreadingthe future. They never havetime to live in the present.Some panic or anxiety symptomsmaybe simply relatedto normal fight responsewhere your body may releaseadrenaline that increases theheart rate, respirations, andcauses flushing. Occasionally,flight response may be moreevident, where the heart ratemay slow down, you may feelweak in your legs, and mayfeel like you are about to passout. These symptoms are amanifestation of slowing of theheart rate and pooling of theblood in the lower extremities.There may be strong emotionalcomponents that can repeatedlytrigger these hormonal responsesto even simple situations.Some people with depressionmay have an imbalancein a brain neurotransmittercalledthe serotonin,which acts as a linkbetween nerve cellsand helps them totransmit data andcommunicate witheach other. Replacingserotoninhas been founduseful in controllingdepression andanxiety symptoms.What can you doabout these panicattacks and generalizedanxiety?The key is tounderstand what isprecipitating your attacks. Youneed to make a note of thosesituations that provoke yourattacks and how your mind andbody responds to those situations.Maintain a notebook andlist all the symptoms that youfeel before, during, and afterand anticipated attack. Usually,the symptoms begin long beforeyou face a stressful situation.From the time, you decidethat you have to face a stressfulsituation that may bring onyour panic or anxiety attack,list all the abnormal things youfeel in terms of heart rate, respirations,sweating, dizziness,fuzziness, spaced out feeling,hot sensation, or anything else.You may feel these symptomsseveral times before the dreadedincidence, but, do not worry.The symptoms may evenintensify, as you get closer tothe situation. But, once youdare and face the situation, youmay notice that your anxietylevel may indeed be a littleless, as your mind engages inthe actual act of dealing withthe situation, which leaves verylittle room for your negativethoughts. When the situationcomes to past and none of thedreaded outcomes happen, youare relieved. You feel like youcould have walked through thesituation, after all, without anysweat. The key to a successfultreatment of panic and anxietyattacks is to feel good, enthusiastic,and optimistic before youface a given situation so thatyou can put your best effort, focusall your energy on dealingwith the situation, and comeout feeling better, satisfied, andaccelerated; and not feelingdrained or exhausted.Panic attacks and anxiety aremulti-factorial, meaning; theymay be related to hormonal,physical, emotional, personal,or chemical imbalances in thebrain. Hence, a multi-prongapproach is essential in dealingwith these situations, in orderto gain substantial benefits. Itmay take a long time to gainconfidence and overcome fearand anxiety.Since, most of the physicalmanifestations of panic attacksare related to adrenalineor vagal excess, they can becontrolled by training our mindto respond to a give stress byreleasing lesser amounts ofthese agents by retraining ourthoughts, and the perception ofour challenges. Exercise alsohelps us to reduce our bodyresponse by releasing lesseramounts of adrenaline for agiven level of stress. We alsoneed to minimize our focuson these hormonal surges andrecall past positive aspects. Astime goes on your body willlearn not to respond to everysimple thought with a burst ofadrenaline. It is like developingimmunity to minimally negativethoughts that never reallyharm anyone in the long run.Meditation is an excellent wayto suppress your body’s responseto hormonal surges andengage your mind positively.As I mentioned, the momentyour mind perceives an ideaof facing a dreaded situation,it will shift the negativethoughts into overdrive. If youforce your mind to focus onmeditation and chant the word,“Om,” or something else thatsoothes your mind, now literallyyou have put your negativethoughts on hold.That will reduce yourbody’s adrenalinesurges. As you focuson the meditation,slow your breathing.Taking deep breathsin and out will helpto reduce your hyperventilation.Whenyou are not hyperventilating,yourdizziness becomesless obvious. Thesemay sound too goodto be true. And, youare probably right! Ittakes a lot of practiceand hence maintaininga diary is importantto chart your course.Knowledge is power. It providesconfidence and insight.Hence, reading a couple ofbooks on these topics mightshed some light on how expertshave approached these problemsin a systematic mannerthat can greatly benefit you.Imagery is a useful way toredirect your mind away fromnegative thoughts. I use thistechnique whenever I am doingstress tests or heart catheterizationson patients. I tell mypatients to imagine that theyare lying on a beach in Hawaii,watching a beautiful sunset,while sipping on their favoritedrink, and enjoying the fireplace.You can create your ownimagery or recall a pleasant ora funny incidence in your life,and slowly, reply the act, onestepat a time, and enjoy everymoment. By all means, takeyour time.You also need to get sufficientsleep. If you cannot sleep, becauseyour mind is in overdrivewith negative thoughts, tryreading a book, drinking warmmilk (no caffeine), or taking ahot shower.People with mixed anxiety anddepression may have a chemicalimbalance in the brain thatmay respond to serotonin releasingdrugs. There are naturalsubstances that can work onpeople with mild depression.One such agent is St. John’sWort. The active ingredient inthe wart (Hypericum)increases serotonin in the brainand helps in controlling thesymptoms of mild depressionand anxiety. Similarly, 5-Hydroxy-trytophan[5-HTP] alsohas been shown to increasebrain serotonin levels andimprove symptoms in milddepression casesIn resistant and persistentcases, a more challenging partis addressing the emotionalaspect, which needs the helpof a trained professional whois well versed in CognitiveBehavioral [CBT] Therapy.Disclaimer: The Informationprovided here is for educationalpurpose only. Please consultwith your physician for anymedical advice.Visit www.sugarlandheartcenter.comfor a more information.”nikam@windstream.netMENCANCOOK!Traditionally SouthAsian Men take backseatwhen it comes tocooking.NOT ANY MORE.We want to put them inthe driver seat.MICHIGAN SOUTHASIAN INVITESSOUTH ASIAN MENTO COME FORWARDAND SHOW THEIRTALENT IN COOKING.Email your recipe withyour photos and seeyourself in printInfo@Michigansouthasian.com