"A new treatment program teaches people who suffer from panic disorder how to reduce the terrorizing symptoms by normalizing their breathing."
According to a recent study by panic disorder expert Alicia E. Meuret, this method - called Capnometry-Assisted Respiratory Training, or CART - has proved better than traditional cognitive therapy at reducing both symptoms of panic and hyperventilation.
"CART helps patients learn to breathe in such a way as to reverse hyperventilation, a highly uncomfortable state where the blood stream operates with abnormally low levels of carbon dioxide.
CART: Breathing exercises twice a day:
The goal of these exercises is to reduce chronic and acute hyperventilation and associated physical symptoms. This is achieved by breathing slower but most importantly more shallowly. Contrary to popular belief, taking deep breaths actually worsens hyperventilation and symptoms.
"Most panic-disorder patients report they are terrified of physical symptoms such as shortness of breath or dizziness," Meuret said. "In our study, cognitive therapy didn't change respiratory physiology, but CART did effectively reduce hyperventilation. CART was proved an effective and powerful treatment that reduces the panic by means of normalizing respiratory physiology."
CART breathing a proven biological therapy:
The study pitted CART against a conventional cognitive therapy treatment, or CT.
Both treatment programs were equally effective in reducing symptoms. But CART was the only treatment to physiologically alter panic symptoms by actively reversing hyperventilation in the patients."
Link to Full Article
Showing posts with label panic attacks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label panic attacks. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 December 2010
Friday, 2 July 2010
What to Expect When You're Diagnosed with Panic Disorder - by Mark Sichel, LCSW
The greatest fear people experience during a panic attack is that they are going crazy or even that they are having a serious medical problem that will kill them. You may feel as if you are going to lose your mind or that you're having a heart attack or stroke, but if you're in relatively good health and have a stable history of "keeping it together," the attack will end.
This series of articles will teach you how common panic attacks are, how rapidly they end, and what the initial steps are in eliminating these attacks from your life. You will be able to complete a self-assesment and find out whether or not you are, in fact, having a panic attack. Most importantly, you'll learn that you aren't to blame for your panic attacks, and that being kinder to yourself is a good first step in mastering this problem. You'll feel better because you will feel more understood, you'll see how universal a problem panic can be, and you'll stop beating yourself up for having the problem in the first place.
Untreated, a panic disorder certainly will diminish your quality of life and potentially be disabling. Those who have had panic attacks are vulnerable to phobias, for people who have had panic attacks sometimes become phobic and will avoid the stimuli that they associate with their original panic attack. Panic disorder, however, is highly treatable through psychotherapy and/or medication and does not have to interfere with your quality of life.
People who have panic attacks do not end up in mental hospitals. People who have panic attacks feel crazy but they are not. Panic attacks involve common symptoms that are often times scary, but it does not mean you are nuts.
How long does the typical panic attack last? According to the American Psychological Association, a panic attack will generally last ten minutes. However, please note that those ten minutes feel like forever during the course of the panic attack.
You are not having a heart attack, a stroke or a seizure, but you may feel that you are seriously ill. Your heart may be pounding and your palms sweating. You may be feeling like you can't catch your breath, or that you're so dizzy that you're going to pass out. People often go to hospitals during panic attacks because they believe that they are having a heart attack, when, in fact, they are experiencing normal and common symptoms of panic.
Between three and six million Americans will have a panic disorder at one point in their lives. This means that between 1.5 and 3 percent of the population will experience panic disorder in their lifetimes. However, as many as 25 million Americans are thought to have had intermittent and scattered panic attacks.
For more valuable information about panic disorders, continue with this series by reading How Do I Know if I'm Having a Panic Attack?
Link to Article
This series of articles will teach you how common panic attacks are, how rapidly they end, and what the initial steps are in eliminating these attacks from your life. You will be able to complete a self-assesment and find out whether or not you are, in fact, having a panic attack. Most importantly, you'll learn that you aren't to blame for your panic attacks, and that being kinder to yourself is a good first step in mastering this problem. You'll feel better because you will feel more understood, you'll see how universal a problem panic can be, and you'll stop beating yourself up for having the problem in the first place.
Untreated, a panic disorder certainly will diminish your quality of life and potentially be disabling. Those who have had panic attacks are vulnerable to phobias, for people who have had panic attacks sometimes become phobic and will avoid the stimuli that they associate with their original panic attack. Panic disorder, however, is highly treatable through psychotherapy and/or medication and does not have to interfere with your quality of life.
People who have panic attacks do not end up in mental hospitals. People who have panic attacks feel crazy but they are not. Panic attacks involve common symptoms that are often times scary, but it does not mean you are nuts.
How long does the typical panic attack last? According to the American Psychological Association, a panic attack will generally last ten minutes. However, please note that those ten minutes feel like forever during the course of the panic attack.
You are not having a heart attack, a stroke or a seizure, but you may feel that you are seriously ill. Your heart may be pounding and your palms sweating. You may be feeling like you can't catch your breath, or that you're so dizzy that you're going to pass out. People often go to hospitals during panic attacks because they believe that they are having a heart attack, when, in fact, they are experiencing normal and common symptoms of panic.
Between three and six million Americans will have a panic disorder at one point in their lives. This means that between 1.5 and 3 percent of the population will experience panic disorder in their lifetimes. However, as many as 25 million Americans are thought to have had intermittent and scattered panic attacks.
For more valuable information about panic disorders, continue with this series by reading How Do I Know if I'm Having a Panic Attack?
Link to Article
Tuesday, 13 October 2009
SDS Delegate Debate: A single session cure for panic attacks?
Dear All
Recently I came across an interesting piece of research, whilst preparing reading materials for our forthcoming seminar on Anxiety. (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=68)
As it was a very simple and useful way of helping clients I thought I would share it with you.
We all know that excessive caffeine consumption is probably not the most sensible thing for anxious clients to be doing. However, the question is - what is “excessive” and how un-sensible is it? On one hand, the British Coffee Association states that “scientific evidence consistently shows that drinking up to … four to five cups of coffee a day is perfectly safe … and may confer health benefits.” On the other hand, a paper published last month in Psychiatry Research suggests otherwise and indicates that caffeine consumption alone may be more than sufficient to promote and maintain panic attacks.
In a double blind experiment in Brazil (appropriately enough), of those experiencing panic attacks, nearly two thirds had such an attack after drinking the equivalent of 5 cups of coffee. However in a control group of those who had previously experienced such attacks, not a single panic attack was reported after consuming non-caffeinated drinks. *
As is so often in our field, substance consumption plays an important role. Not just in making problems more complex but also in providing potentially simple solutions.
Next time you work with an anxious client, remember to encourage caffeine elimination before engaging in more complex interventions. It may be sufficient to cure the problem.
We are looking forward to working with you in our future seminars. Remember that our seminar on Anxiety is fully booked on the first day in London, but there are still places left on the second London date and at other venues around the country.
Book online (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=68) and receive automatic £10 discount.
Kind regards
Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
* References: Panic disorder and social anxiety disorder subtypes in a caffeine challenge test Nardi AE, Lopes FL, Freire RC, Veras AB, Nascimento I, Valença AM, de-Melo-Neto VL, Soares-Filho GL, King AL, Araújo DM, Mezzasalma MA, Rassi A, Zin WA. Psychiatry Res. 2009 Sep 30;169(2):149-53.
Recently I came across an interesting piece of research, whilst preparing reading materials for our forthcoming seminar on Anxiety. (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=68)
As it was a very simple and useful way of helping clients I thought I would share it with you.
We all know that excessive caffeine consumption is probably not the most sensible thing for anxious clients to be doing. However, the question is - what is “excessive” and how un-sensible is it? On one hand, the British Coffee Association states that “scientific evidence consistently shows that drinking up to … four to five cups of coffee a day is perfectly safe … and may confer health benefits.” On the other hand, a paper published last month in Psychiatry Research suggests otherwise and indicates that caffeine consumption alone may be more than sufficient to promote and maintain panic attacks.
In a double blind experiment in Brazil (appropriately enough), of those experiencing panic attacks, nearly two thirds had such an attack after drinking the equivalent of 5 cups of coffee. However in a control group of those who had previously experienced such attacks, not a single panic attack was reported after consuming non-caffeinated drinks. *
As is so often in our field, substance consumption plays an important role. Not just in making problems more complex but also in providing potentially simple solutions.
Next time you work with an anxious client, remember to encourage caffeine elimination before engaging in more complex interventions. It may be sufficient to cure the problem.
We are looking forward to working with you in our future seminars. Remember that our seminar on Anxiety is fully booked on the first day in London, but there are still places left on the second London date and at other venues around the country.
Book online (http://www.skillsdevelopment.co.uk/seminars.php?courseid=68) and receive automatic £10 discount.
Kind regards
Paul Grantham
Consultant Clinical Psychologist
* References: Panic disorder and social anxiety disorder subtypes in a caffeine challenge test Nardi AE, Lopes FL, Freire RC, Veras AB, Nascimento I, Valença AM, de-Melo-Neto VL, Soares-Filho GL, King AL, Araújo DM, Mezzasalma MA, Rassi A, Zin WA. Psychiatry Res. 2009 Sep 30;169(2):149-53.
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