Sleep Panic Attacks
Sleep panic attacks are not new. Many people that suffer with this disorder are familiar with the symptoms when awake. The hallmark symptoms of panic attacks are rapid heart beating, dizziness, stomach or gastrointestinal issues, shortness of breath. These are all commonly expressed by patients when asked what symptoms they were having.
The sad reality is that sometimes people have episodes while sleeping. Sleep panic attacks may be brought on for the same reasons. Stressful episodes that are often not resolves could be responsible. Discussing troubling money issue before retiring for the evening is not a good idea either. Pretty much anything can trigger an episode. And once it starts you are usually at a loss for bringing yourself down.
Many people with panic do not seek treatment or help. They go on suffering with the disorder. Those that do seek help are almost at a loss for explaining with any clarity just why they experience or more specifically how they experience sleep panic episodes.
Many specialists agree that the best way to treat panic is not with a single solitary approach. Rather a combination approach gets a much better response.
They suggest combing bother cognitive and behavioral modification therapies to help patients. Patients often do better when they are more educated about their disorder. Just like a good consumer is often a more educated consumer when it comes to shopping for goods and services.
When it comes to cognitive measures, specialists have found that a person needs to restructure their thinking and understand that you are not going crazy. This is a real disorder.
Doctors and therapists have also found that panic attacks are usually not isolated. They normally follow some event that triggers them. In some cases people may be under extreme stress. In war time, soldiers often return home from the battle field and experience PTSD. That is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Many of the soldiers will have some degree of this disorder because of what they’ve been through. It is inhuman not to have feelings when engaging in lethal battle. The images of horror can stay with soldiers for the rest of their lives.
In cognitive restructuring, patients have to re-learn how to think. They are not having a heart attack. They likely won’t die from a panic attack. But the mental anguish patients experience is almost as traumatic.
Behavioral modification concentrates on exposure to the stimuli that one is afraid of. If it is spiders, then the exposure would be to spiders. If it is a fear of public speaking then the therapist would have the patient take small steps towards the feared object of speaking in public. The thought is that by gradual and consistent exposure, a patient begins to realize that they target did not kill them or harm them. Over time it builds the confidence of patients to see themselves as strong and worthy of all acceptation.
Although sleep panic attacks can be a private matter, it does impact a large number of people today. Since so many people are suffering from this illness, a sufferer should have an easier time finding the support and treatment needed to feel much better.
