Non-traditional ways of Overcoming Panic Attacks

Psychological therapy, drugs, and stress reduction are all fairly common methods for overcoming panic attacks. Even hypnotism and holistic methods like aromatherapy are all gaining acceptance as means for overcoming panic attacks. If those methods aren’t working, or just aren’t radical enough for you, check out some of these other ways to help you conquer your panic attacks.

Did you know that laughter is a great way of overcoming panic attacks? The American Association for Therapeutic Humor seems to think so. The way it works is that you train yourself, usually with the help of a therapist, to visualize yourself in a humorous situation in which you are laughing hysterically. When the symptoms of a panic attack arise, you call up this image and it helps to displace the negative emotions that surface in a panic attack. If the image causes you to laugh out loud, that’s even better because it changes the physiological response to the attack. Basically, when a person is panicked, her levels of serum cortisol (thought to be the “stress hormone”) rise. Though not sure how, scientists have observed that laughter decreases those levels of cortisol.

Another means to overcoming panic attacks is energy therapy. At its base, energy psychology believes that every thought a person has produces an energy field which triggers chemical changes in the body. It’s similar to the Chinese notion of “chi.” The most common form of energy therapy is called acupressure or “tapping” and it works like this. A therapist asks a person to think about various situations and rate how uncomfortable he is with that situation on a scale of one to 10. Then, at the direction of the therapist, the patient taps on various acupressure points on the body while describing how he feels. The location and sequence of the taps is determined according to a particular algorithm. The whole treatment takes about five minutes, and proponents claim success rates of 75% to 95%.

Many of non-traditional techniques for overcoming panic attacks are based on sound principles of non-Western medicine that have been around and effective for centuries, so you are taking much less of a risk than it may seem. If the methods in this article still seem a little too far out for you, try some of the more popularly accepted non-traditional methods for overcoming panic attacks. Many people find yoga helps them handle their panic attack symptoms, and combined with meditation it is especially helpful. Acupuncture is another option. It is similar to acupressure except it uses needles.

If you’re having difficulty overcoming your panic attacks with traditional methods, or if you’d just prefer to try something different, don’t be afraid to investigate these techniques and others like them.