Health Benefits to Cure Panic Attacks

While in the throes of a panic attack, many people feel like they are having a heart attack or stroke or as if they are suffocating. But while it is unquestionably frightening and uncomfortable, a single or occasional panic attack is unlikely to cause you any serious health consequences. Such attacks usually pass within 10 or 20 minutes, and the main physical after-effect is mostly likely to be fatigue.

So if a panic attack is not going to kill you, is it really that big a deal? Maybe you can just learn to live with it. How important is it to get find for panic attacks?

In fact, there are major long-term health benefits to treatment for people in whom panic attacks are not just isolated or occasional events, but frequent and/or severe. For most people, frequent and continued panic attacks will lead to a constant state of worry or anticipatory anxiety, which is a key indicator that what you have is not just a panic attack but a panic disorder. And constant anticipatory anxiety has long-term negative consequences for your overall health as well as your happiness.

This kind of anxiety can actually weaken the body's immune system and make it more vulnerable to a whole host of ailments. Some of the most common physical reactions that can be traced to anxiety are muscular tension and shoulder and lower back pain, more frequent colds, ulcers, acid stomach/acid reflux, digestive disorders such as irritable bowel and ulcerative colitis, teeth grinding, headaches, and sleep disorders.

And while it's true that isolated panic attacks generally do not cause immediate heart damage, there actually is evidence of an increased risk of heart attack and stroke over the long term for people who suffer from panic disorder or agoraphobia.

Over a period of years, the cardiovascular stress a panic attack places on your body can damage your heart. According to one article, "chronic stress responses contribute to the development of coronary artery disease, and...acute stress responses can act as a trigger for the clinical presentation of underlying, previously silent heart disease. There is evidence of a contribution of stress to the development of coronary atherosclerosis and to the triggering of clinical complications, such as fatal arrhythmias and myocardial infarction in the presence of underlying coronary artery disease." ("Mental stress, panic disorder and the heart," by Murray Esler, Stress Medicine 14,4).

Other studies have identified a significantly increased risk of heart attack in menopausal women with frequent panic attacks.

Major heart complications are probably relatively rare among panic sufferers. What is not rare is a significant decline in the overall quality of life experienced by people with untreated panic disorder. Panic disorder is considered to be a chronic debilitating illness.

People who suffer from panic disorder are at increased risk for alcoholism, drug abuse and attempted suicide. They make an inordinate number of trips to hospital emergency rooms, at great cost to themselves and the health care system. In cases where panic leads to major avoidance behaviors (which is common), people can develop difficulty with essential daily functions like travelling and working, which can limit their work options and earning power. They are less able to engage in and enjoy healthy activities like hobbies, sports and travel. Their social lives can become limited, leading to isolation and depression.

Panic is one of the most treatable anxiety disorders. But like many ailments, it is easier to control at early stages than after it has developed into a panic disorder. Your first panic attack could be your last. But in light of the long-term potential harm of panic disorder, it clearly pays to understand the health risks associated with panic and seek help at the first sign that it could become a continuing problem in your life.