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General Questions & Answers Page One CBT vs. Graded Exposure? Can stress cause panic attacks and anxiety? Does caffeine play any role in panic attacks? Has my doctor made a mistake in my diagnosis? How long does a panic attack last? CBT vs. Graded Exposure What is the difference between CBT and graded exposure (desensitisation) to situations and or places that people avoid because of their fears? Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) teaches people how to manage their thoughts which create panic and anxiety. As these skills develop they then return to the situations and places that they have been avoiding to further develop these cognitive skills. Graded Exposure means people go back into situations and places that they have been avoiding without the benefit of any cognitive skills. They simply go back into the avoided situations and/or places and stay there until they feel better. Can stress cause panic attacks and anxiety? People react to stress in different ways. Some people may develop high blood pressure, some an ulcer, migraines etc and there are those of us who develop panic attacks and/or anxiety. There is usually a genetic predisposition to panic attacks and either a build up of stress and/or a major life stress can trigger this predisposition. Also illicit drugs such as 'marijuana', LSD and cocaine can trigger the predisposition. Does caffeine play any role in panic attacks? It can play a role for some people, although not everyone is effected by it. It is very individual and it is an individual decision not use products which contain caffeine. The same applies to decaffeinated products. Some people move over to these and find they are allergic to the chemicals used to take out the caffeine. Some people find the allergy reaction worse than a caffeine reaction and so they go back to using products with caffeine in them. As we have said, it is very individual and there are no clear cut answers. Has my doctor made a mistake in my diagnosis? This is one of the initial fears people with panic disorder have. "What if the doctor has made a mistake?', 'What if the test results were mixed up?' If you are having difficulties in believing there is nothing physically wrong with you despite your doctor's reassurance, you can ask to see an anxiety disorder specialist or seek a second opinion from another doctor. (some people will seek 10 different opinions) When we get caught up in our 'what if' thinking it creates further anxiety and panic. Recovery means that we all need to accept and believe our diagnosis while learning to manage our thoughts that are creating our distress. How long does a panic attack last? There is ongoing debate about this. They can last any where from 30 seconds to over an hour. Some people report that they can last for over a week or more. In these instances, it is more symptomatic of a heightened anxiety state, rather than a week + long panic attack. The reason why they last as long as they do, is because we are so frightened of them. It is the way that we think about them and our fears that keep it all going. This is why using either a mindfulness based cognitive technique or another cognitive techniques is so important. People who experience spontaneous panic attacks, may still have an occasional one even after they have recovered. But the loss of fear of having a panic attack and the loss of fear of the symptoms, means they usually only last 30 seconds. Of course people do not even want to have a 30 second panic attack, but the loss of fear means that it is over as quickly as it came and there is no residual anxiety.' The attitude of mind of recovery is more, 'So what' , rather than 'What if'. But it takes time, patience and discipline to work through to the point where people can feel the truth of the 'So what' attitude.  |
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Last modified: June 12, 2007