There are a wide variety of symptoms of panic.  One of the reasons panic’s symptoms vary is because there are extreme differences in the potential severity of anxiety.  Anxiety can be a mild nervousness, a raging panic attack or many different degrees of anxiety in between these two extremes.  Besides this fact, there are many different types of anxieties.  Some of these are:

• Performance Anxiety – A condition where a person is unable to make speeches or cannot function under pressure while participating in a participation sport.
• Test Anxiety – A similar condition where a person fails tests in school, even though he or she is adequately familiar with the content of the test.
• Separation Anxiety – When a person, often a child cannot stand to be left alone.
• Anxiety or Panic Disorder – Where a person experiences spell of intense panic when there is no external reason to be in a state of panic.

Though these conditions seem to run the gamut of a wide variety of situations, often times self-help treatments can be very beneficial and maybe even sufficient to start to bring about a cure to each one. A couple of self help treatments that can be very beneficial to anxiety and panic sufferers are reading an excellent psychology book, such as “Psycho-Cybernetics or partaking in progressive relaxation.  First however, we must make this disclaimer:

Panic attacks will sometimes make the sufferer feel as if he or she is experiencing a heart attack or a stroke. It is important a person suffering from this condition gets a clean bill of health from a doctor before assuming the panic has brought on these common mock heart attack or stroke symptoms. Once the patient’s health is no longer in question, he or she should no longer pay any attention to these false symptoms while under the influence of the adrenaline brought on by the panic attack.

Though ignoring anxiety’s symptoms is difficult when one’s nerves are sensitized, doing so is key to putting an end to panic attacks.  One technique many people have used to start down the road to desensitizing their nerves is progressive relaxation.

There are three stages to progressive relaxation exercises. First, the anxiety sufferer lies down or relaxes in an easy chair. Once comfortable, the patient instructs the major body parts to relax. This is accomplished by instructing the body starting at the bottom and moving to the top. In other words, “feet relax, legs relax, lower legs and buttocks relax,” etc. This is continued right up to the head and in this way some degree of relaxation is accomplished.

In the second stage, the patient becomes aware of the breathing, which should be slower than normal but comfortable. He or she should pay no attention to any outside noises but only tune into this slow, comfortable breathing.

After a few minutes, the patient should think of some relaxing time or scene he or she has experienced some time in the past, or if no peaceful scene from the past can be thought of, the patient should make one up. The key is to use the imagination and the breathing to be drawn into a peaceful state of mind.

Finally, the patient should imagine him or herself acting in a way that would be his or her ideal. For instance, the test anxiety sufferer should imagine being calm and confident while taking a test. The panic sufferer should imagine dismissing any hint of panic and continuing on through the day undisturbed.

While this may seem too simple to give any real results, I used this method when I suffered frequent severe panic attacks and it was what got me to turn the corner and head toward complete recovery. So, I know it works, but there is one more key to a successful recovery.

An anxiety sufferer needs to recognize the fact he or she is suffering from anxiety disorder and needs to acknowledge it will only leave after the body’s overly sensitized adrenaline system becomes healed. This can only happen on its own timetable and will only happen after the patient realizes that no amount of fighting the condition or trying to run away from it will help. However, acceptance together with time will heal panic attack anxiety.

The key is to use relaxation and recall relaxed feelings throughout the day. Then, live through anxieties symptoms, paying them as little attention as possible. A complete recovery will come soon after this acceptance takes hold.