Although panic attacks are prone to occur in people who already suffer from depression, it can still happen to anybody anywhere and at any time.  Managing panic attack is not always easy, but possible and can be done by using a couple of fool proof alternative panic disorder treatment techniques.

The first panic disorder treatment technique is coping and the second, exposure.  Both techniques will be explained, but lets first discuss a panic attack through the demon analogy.

By seeing a panic attack as an attack by a demon, you can put your panic attack into perspective and fight it effectively.  The first effective way to resist or fight is to use a “shield”, meaning medication you can take to calm you down.  You can use techniques like relaxation exercises, breathing exercises or taking control of you anxious thoughts by talking back to them and reassuring yourself.  These techniques will be discussed later on in this article.    The second technique takes courage and willpower and is a very powerful technique and involves facing your panic attack demon and fighting back.  Every time you stand up and face your fear, the demon becomes smaller and the fear of it increases dramatically.  Exposing yourself to the fear and facing your demon head on, puts the power back into your hands and gives you the control you might otherwise lose.

Coping techniques or shields might at first seem weak techniques when your demon and fears are strong and you don’t see how you can stop the attack.  Perhaps you’ve been taking medication and you’ve done the relaxation exercised, yet they are not helping and the attack continues.  The demon you fear might seem so big that it just overrides your coping techniques and breaks through your shield.  This is when exposure to your demon eventually causes you to face it head on and every time it tries to attack you, it becomes smaller and the fear of it starts to disappear.  This is when your shield starts working.  After a couple of tries, the demon becomes so small, your shield so strong that he no longer poses as a threat to you and the demon and the fear disappears.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is the tactic where you combine facing your fear or demon head on and using your relaxation techniques and medication as a shield against your demon.  These two techniques will in due time help you overcome all your fears of your demon and help you live a normal, happy life doing things you want to do with your friends, going places your feared before, and doing things you’ve never done before – all without panic. I will talk more on the next post regarding the panic disorder treatment techniques to help managing panic attack.