Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Treating Panic Attacks
There are various methods for treating panic attacks. In most cases, psychological panic treatment is first prescribed. In fact, medications are usually prescribed if the patient is accompanying psychological or physical disturbances. One of the most common psychological methods for panic treatment is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. It is worth looking at it and its results in greater detail to determine its effectiveness.
Stages of Treating Panic Attacks through CBT
There are five main stages in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for treating panic attacks. Before you get to the cognitive and behavioral part of the treatment, you will have to undergo three other stages of panic treatment for treating panic attacks.
The first stage is referred to as psychological education. During this initial stage, the therapist explains to the patient how the human body works when a person experiences a panic attack. The therapist also explains how fear and panic thoughts appear. There is also a short introduction to the panic treatment.
The second stage of the treatment involves self monitoring on the side of the patient. You will have to note the frequency of your panic attacks, the situations, in which they are triggered and the symptoms you experience during these painful moments. The therapist will also ask you to identify how your behavior changes after experiencing such a high level of anxiety. All this information is used by the therapist to design an individual approach for treating panic attacks in your particular case.
The third stage of the Cognitive Behavior Therapy involves the introduction of techniques for panic attack management. These are not used for treating panic attacks, but they are usually explained to you for making you feel better, when you are experiencing this condition. These condition management techniques involve deep breathing, muscle relaxation and mind diversion, just to name a few for treating panic attacks.
The fourth stage is the actual cognitive therapy, also referred to as cognitive restructuring. The main objective of this part of the treatment is for the fear the patient is experiencing to be identified and countered. You will be aided to get to the root of your problem and to think critically, when you experience fear. You are encouraged to assess all evidence to see the probability of your fear becoming a reality diminishing.
The fifth and final stage for treating panic attacks is behavioral therapy. The patient is exposed to the actual fear and learns to overcome it, using different behavioral techniques. The therapist grades fear-evoking situations in terms of severity. Then, you will be exposed to the least scary situation. Once you learn to overcome it, you will be exposed to the next one that is lightly more frightening and so on.
Effective Methods for Treating Panic Attacks
Overall, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is one of the effective methods for treating panic attacks. It identifies both the symptoms and the root cause of the condition. More importantly, it provides individually tailored solutions to encounter both the symptoms and the cause. It has been estimated that this panic treatment methods works for around 80% of all patients. That is why you might want to consider it, but it will also be a good idea to consider accompanying or alternative forms of panic treatment to make sure you will overcome this serious psychological condition by treating panic attacks.
