Panic Attacks

[Guest guest]

Hi y'all,

 

The medical term .. Panic Disorder .. according to my handy-dandy mini

manual .. is:

 

Panic Disorder: A condition featuring recurrent brief episodes of acute

distress, mental confusion, and fear of impending death. The heart

beats rapidly, breathing is deep and fast, and sweating occurs.

 

Over breathing (hyperventilation) often makes the attack worse. These

panic attacks usually occur about twice a week but may be more frequent

and are especially common in people with agoraphobia. The condition

tends to run in families and appears to be an organic disorder with a

strong psychologic component.

 

Treatment is with antidepressant drugs, especially the tricylic group,

and MAO inhibitors. Behavior therapy can be helpful.

 

** Agoraphobia .. A morbid fear of public places and/or open spaces.

Treatment is with behavioral therapy, psychotherapy, or medication.

 

** MAO Inhibitors .. A drug that prevents the activity of the enzyme

monoamine oxidase in brain tissue and therefore affects mood. This is

an antidepressant that is RESTRICTED now due to the side affects .. one

of which is a rapid increase in blood pressure.

 

Now lemme give you my take on Panic Disorder .. and Phobias in general

since I believe this is often a result of a Phobia. I'm not a medical

doctor nor a psychiatrist (thank the Great Spirit) but do have training

in psychology and more importantly, experience dealing with soldiers in

combat .. a place where panic is not unheard of.

 

I've had to train many young officers to avoid panic when speaking in

front of large groups .. and likewise, when I was a department head at

the John F. Kennedy School for International Studies, we had a short

course which was designed to show potential instructors how to avoid

panic when on the stage. Basically, it was behavior therapy. The US

Army does not allow leaders who suffer panic attacks to remain on active

duty so treatment with drugs is not an option.

 

On the other hand, those who suffer from recurring panic attacks would

never have made it through basic training and certainly not through West

Point, ROTC or Officer Candidate School .. so we're dealing with those

situations that are rare and extreme rather than those that are common.

 

In combat, its not unusual for rookies to panic .. they see the reality

of death around them and its not a normal thing. But its rare that the

soldier does not overcome this. Peer pressure is the best medicine in

such cases. Remember .. these kids who walked through the jungles of

Vietnam and who are walking the streets of Baghdad now are the young

folks who graduated from high school a year ago. Violent death and such

are new to these young folks .. but you can bet your bippy that 99.9% of

them will learn to handle it inside a week or less.

 

Panic bouts such as those described above are often brought on by lack

of confidence and lack of experience and they can be easily overcome ..

permanently .. when confidence is gained.

 

Its my opinion that modern medical science has orgasms when they can

find a new disorder and put a handle on it .. and find a treatment for

it. Normally, antidepressants are the preferred choice for anything the

medicos can call a behavior disorder.

 

Humans have an innate desire to survive .. and many of the disorders are

really extremes of this built-in self-preservation mechanism. Ask any

cardiologist about who is most likely to suffer from a vasovagel attack

and they'll tell you its folks who have walked the fine line of death a

few times .. soldiers with combat experience and cops. Everybody has

the capability of having such an attack but the mind of those mentioned

above tells the body to slow down and survive when its stricken with a

loss of limb or such .. basically, its excess activation of the vagus

nerve .. which causes a slowing of the heart and a lowering of the blood

pressure .. and then fainting. This is simply self-preservation and it

can't be controlled .. but its NOT a disorder that requires treatment.

 

Many fears are real .. fear of dawgs after being attacked, for example.

Others are unreal .. phobias .. and its my opinion that individual or

group behavior modification sessions are far more useful than cramming

friggin pills down someone's gullet. We can teach ourselves to overcome

phobias in many cases .. controlled breathing is a great way to do it.

 

As for essential oils for Panic Attacks .. any of those that relax us

will work .. if we like them. Lavandula angustifolia or Rosa damascena

or Rosmarinus officinalis .. and so and so .. as we have seen in the

past few posts. Many folks are telling us what works for them .. and if

it works .. it works.

 

Telling people that their disorder is not abnormal because many people

suffer from the same disorder and we have even named it .. also works.

It works to reinforce the disorder and the one suffering begins to

accept that its inevitable .. unless they pop some pills. But telling

a young sergeant to imagine that all the folks in the class he is

teaching are sitting there naked as Jay Birds works too.

 

So drugs are not the only answer .. they're just the modern, quick and

expensive answer.

 

Can anyone imagine an American Indian years back suffering from Panic

Attacks due to being in open spaces? ;-p

 

Y'all keep smiling. :-) Butch http://www.AV-AT.com