Health & Medical Anxiety

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy - The Best Treatment For Panic Attacks

The day to day stress and pressures of life can become quite overwhelming.
Many minor details tend to add up and eventually lead to worry, anxiety, panic and even depression.
It is only natural that from this point on, thoughts begin to develop into a negative pattern.
However, changing the way you think can help prevent these overwhelming feelings.
Here is some more information on cognitive behavioral therapy, which is considered by many to be the best treatment for panic attacks.
What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy? The principle of cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT is that what people think will affect the way they feel emotionally and how they behave.
When under emotional distress, the way someone sees and judges themselves may become more negative.
Hence, the objective of CBT is to help you begin to see the link between negative thinking styles and mood.
This can empower you to have more control over these thoughts.
How It's Done The best treatment for panic attacks can be attributed to cognitive behavioral therapy because it encourages you to develop positive thinking patterns.
This is done in 3 steps:
  • Identifying Negative Thoughts - With panic disorders, situations are perceived as more dangerous than they actually are.
    For example, shaking another person's hand may seem life threatening to someone with a germ phobia.
    Though you might think this fear is irrational, identifying your own irrational, scary thoughts can be very hard.
    One way of doing this is to ask yourself what you were thinking when you started feeling anxious.
  • Challenging Negative Thoughts - The next step is to evaluate your anxiety provoking thoughts.
    Here, you will determine how realistic your worries are.
    Ask yourself if these thoughts are true or an over exaggeration.
    Weigh out the pros and cons of worrying and the thing you fear and ascertain the chances of it actually happening.
  • Replacing Negative Thoughts - Once you have identified the negative ideas, you can replace them with new thoughts that are more realistic and positive.
    Instead of telling yourself you can't do something, tell yourself you can.
    No matter what happens, tell yourself you will be okay.
    Repeat reassuring and calming statements until you feel yourself calm down.
    The more positive you think, the better you will feel.
  • When looking for the best treatment for panic attacks, CBT is on top of the list.
    This method uses the 'you are what you think' mentality as it's driving force.
    Positive thoughts as a means of battling anxiety can get you on the road to recovery faster than you think!

    Leave a reply