An anxiety attack or a panic attack is basically observed as episodes of intense fear or panic experienced by an individual. An anxiety attack will usually occur without warning and suddenly. There are also other instances where there may be an external and obvious trigger for a panic attack ,such as preparing for a big speech, getting stuck in an elevator, and so on. A typical anxiety attack will peak within ten minutes of its onset and not last for more than half an hour in most cases. However, even during this short span the terror and fear experienced by the individual could be very intense. The person could even get a feeling that they are going to die and they may also completely lose control.
The commonly observed symptoms of an anxiety attack are hot flashes or chills, trouble breathing, heart palpitations or chest pain, surge of overwhelming panic, nausea or stomach cramps, feeling unreal or detached, trembling or even shaking. The good part of an anxiety attack is that they respond well to treatment and that too in a relatively short span of time. The treatment used to provide relief from anxiety attacks depends on the severity and type of anxiety disorder. Medical professionals may attempt at providing instant relief from anxiety attacks either through medication, behavioral therapy or even a combination of the two. The tow most effective anxiety disorder treatments practiced by doctors to provide relief from anxiety attacks are the exposure therapy and the cognitive behavioral therapy.
Both of these behavioral therapy focus on the behavior of the individual rather than the issues from the past or the underlying psychological conflicts. Typical behavioral therapy sessions will last for anywhere between 5 and 20 sessions. Similarly, medications may also be prescribed to an individual to gain relief from anxiety attacks which usually include antidepressants and benzodiazepines. However it has been observed that medications when combined with behavioral therapy are most effective in providing relief from anxiety attacks. In fact a comparison made between patients who were treated on medication alone and those who were treated using both medication and behavioral therapy, showed that the latter suffered lesser reduction of symptoms and also a lower risk of a relapse. However while consuming medicines for anxiety attacks one should first weigh their other options as these medications may soon become habit forming and hence may also cause certain unwanted side effects.
answered by G M