Many people just get on with life and expect their anxious feelings to fade and not give them a second thought. however, if you suffer from anxiety disorder, you can do nothing other than dwell on the thoughts of anxiousness which in turn makes you more anxious. A vicious feedback loop soon establishes itself and you are trapped in the middle of it unable to see how to escape its trap.

The natural feeling of anxiety and panic is something many people experience over the course of their lifetime. A state of nervous excitement before your first date, the fear before your driving test, the imminent arrival of your first baby… Most people take this anxiety and stress in their stride. It subsides and the anxious feelings dissipate as we return to our usual state of wariness, no problems there then.

But for some people that heightened sense of anxiety is with them every hour of every day of the year, every year. They are in a permanent state of anxiousness and cannot relax and clear things out of their heads. They worry. They are cautious about anything and everything. They are often scared about being worried and worried about being afraid.

If this remains untreated which traditionally is by prescribed medication, with or without therapy, it can develop and be exhibited as panic attacks, where ultimately the sufferer is anxious about when the next attack will happen which increases the state of anxiousness of Overcoming Panic Attacks which in turn increases the likelihood of another attack.

From one vicious cycle into another. The knock-on effects of this cycle of anxiousness might lead to Panic Disorder. Panic Attacks often exhibit themselves as part of a syndrome of responses recognised as anxiety disorders which include Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), General Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Those Symptoms of Panic Attack can arise at any time usually for no apparent reason and make the conditions all the more difficult to deal with. The unpredictable attacks often leave you worrying about when the next one will be and then we set off into another-self fulfilling cycle of anxiety which can only exacerbate the condition.

The fear of the next attack is not what stops you in your tracks, it is the fear of having nowhere safe to run to if another attack strikes. So you stop travelling on the train, in the bus, in the car. You stop taking holidays abroad because how could you possibly consider flying in your condition?

Maybe its just safer for everyone if you just stay at home and anyway, you do not want people to know about your attacks/ you do not want to be a burden/ one thousand and one other excuses to stay in the safe confines of your home. STOP RIGHT THERE! That is giving up on your life! Remember? You used to go shopping with friends, you used to go to the cinema, you went out for the occasional drink with work colleagues, you went to work, you went on trips and on holiday. And now?

Mental Health anxiety, panic, panic attack, panic attacks