Squats or jogging in panic attacks

Physical exercise can help stop panic attack

08/09/2012

Squats have proven to be a tried and tested remedy for panic attacks. Physical activities can help to overcome the anxiety attacks, as Prof. Borwin Bandelow of the University of Göttingen advises stakeholders.

Quite a few people feel fears that severely limit their lives. Panic reactions cause the organism to undergo a physical and mental alert reaction („fight or flight“). The body seems crazy to play, crowds in the department store, the upcoming ride on the elevator or the fear of an approaching heart attack in the course of a heart neurosis can lead to anxiety patients in a veritable panic attack. The affected people then usually suffer from palpitations, dizziness, sweating, anxiety, trembling, chest pain, Derealisationsgefühle and shortness of breath. To end the attack, it is often not enough to calm oneself. Not infrequently, patients find themselves in the emergency room again.

Physical activity can calm the body
Relatively successful is the physical activity. Who can, should in such a situation "go jogging, walking stairs or doing squats," says Prof. Dr. med. Borwin Bandelow, Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Göttingen.

Through physical activity, the symptoms previously classified by the patient as dangerous and life-threatening, return to the processes of the body. This, in turn, can calm those affected by a panic attack, as the psychiatrist explains.

No conscious inhaling and exhaling
Many therapists advise anxious patients to consciously inhale and exhale. This method should rather not be applied in the opinion of the expert, since „it directs the concentration to the reactions of the body, and that only further increases the panic. "During the panic attack, sufferers should become cognitively aware of the attack „after 30 to 120 minutes is over again“ and no health consequences remain. „If you can do that, you can already calm down“, explains the psychiatrist.

A panic attack can hit anyone. Often, these are associated with agoraphobia, stress, post-traumatic stress disorder or disease anxiety. If the panic attacks occur several times a year, sufferers should consult a doctor. In general, the causes and symptoms can be treated well in the context of behavioral or psychotherapy. Before a therapy is started, however, organic causes such as cardiovascular disease or hyperthyroidism should be clarified. (Sb)

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Picture: Gerd Altmann / Carlsberg1988