Today on the Slice of Health show, we talk about how  to deal with panic attacks.

The Special Guest for the day is Dr. Jayapradha Kanikar, a psychiatrist based out of Chennai.

She describes the term “Panic Attack” as an episode where a person suddenly has an impending sense of doom, loss of control and crushing fear that can be accompanied by chest pains, sweating and tremors. Panic Attacks could be spontaneous or triggered by a stressor. The stressor is usually something that puts a lot of pressure or stress on an individual, for example – exams, an interview, a new job, marriage, parenthood.

It’s not easy to predict when or who is gonna have a panic attack. It is both a physiological as well as a psychological condition. The body goes into flight or flight mode.

Once panic attack symptoms begin, it peaks at about 10 minutes, and fades by 20-30 mins. First time you have a panic attack, you don’t typically know what it was. So the best thing to do is get checked up immediately by a Doctor. If everything else is fine it’s diagnosed as a panic attack. These attacks can be related to depression, anxiety, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Women are generally more prone to panic attacks.

If you get panic attacks frequently, you’ve to seek treatment. People around you, pets, yoga, can all help in avoiding these attacks. Frequency will be reduced and you can calm yourself easier during an attack. A healthy lifestyle also helps.

While having a panic attack, one needs to remember that this is just a fear and nothing bad is actually gonna happen. Don’t let your thoughts run away with you. Remain calm, take deep breaths, repeat to yourself that this is just fear and you’ll get past it. Also try to distract yourself. A Panic disorder is when people are so afraid of having a panic attack that they live in fear and stop doing a lot of things, become a social recluse and stop living their lives. There are treatments and Cognitive behaviour therapy to help rehabilitate them.

In conclusion, Dr. Jayapradha tells listeners to live a healthy lifestyle and not to neglect relaxation exercises. She says don’t panic, because everything can be handled when you’re in the right frame of mind. Keep Calm and Carry On.