This month we are talking about some common topics around mental health such as fear, panic, anxiety, and depression. Although all four of these things can be influenced by each other, and can be experienced all together at the same time, we wanted to break them down into separate topics. Last week we talked about the sensation of fear. This week we want to talk about panic.
Panic is sudden feeling of fear, which can be strong enough to cause overwhelming feelings of anxiety and distraught agitation. A panic attack can happen as a result of fearful thoughts that can be brought on by physical problems within the body such as a rapid heartbeat from some other medical condition. However, sometimes it can come on at unpredictable times for no obvious reason. Some symptoms of a panic attack may be an impending sense of doom or danger, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat (or pounding heart), sweating, shaking, or a tightness in your chest and throat.
There are many things that you can do to help yourself during a panic attack. Our naturopathic doctors look to identify if there are any problems within the body such as inflammation, hormonal issues, or a hyperactive nervous system, just to name a few examples, that might be at the root cause of the panic attacks. Additionally, our naturopaths offer great natural treatment options to prevent a panic attack from coming on, and to even help stop them in the moment. These tools are used at the beginning as we do the deeper work, but the ultimate solution is getting the diet and lifestyle working so that panic attacks don’t take grip of your life. What’s important to know is that all the work we do is supportive and adds onto what one might be doing with their psychotherapist and in counselling.