Do you recognize these symptoms: a pounding heart, legs feeling weak and trembling, a tight throat, light-headedness, and fears of a heart attack or going crazy? While simultaneously you hate yourself for foolishly worrying about these feelings which your physician assured you were “nothing?” This is the hallmark of panic attacks.

Experiencing panic attacks can be very frightening. The overwhelming sensations and feelings are very hard to explain; it’s like having extreme emotions of fear and watching yourself lose control. You feel like you are about to go crazy and may start to shake, sweat and experience palpitations, and worse, breathing may become difficult.

When one is diagnosed as having panic attacks, the most important thing to know is how to get help in overcoming panic attacks. Here are some ways in overcoming the episodes of panic attacks.

• * Understand and acknowledge panic attacks. The first step in overcoming the attacks is by understanding and acknowledging that you are affected by this condition. This includes recognizing the symptoms and knowing their impact to the body. This can bring great relief and can give help you prepare for future attacks and prevent them from happening.

• * Identify what triggers the attacks. Panic monitoring is important for one to effectively achieve behavioral modifications. Keeping a diary of the anxiety symptoms and what causes them to trigger can help you modify certain the behaviors that can trigger an attack.

• * Modify your lifestyle and diet. Unhealthy lifestyle such as smoking cigarettes and drinking caffeinated beverages can exacerbate panic attacks. The caffeine content in cigarettes and caffeinated beverages can interfere with adenosine, which is a brain chemical that has relaxing and calming effects. Caffeine also increases the levels of lactate, a biochemical that is known to cause panic attacks. Consuming foods high in refined sugar can increase the lactate levels in the blood, thereby, should be avoided.

• * Learn to control your breathing. Hyperventilation can be experienced during an attack and can cause sensations such as lightheadedness and tightness of the chest. These can be prevented and relieved through proper breathing techniques. By learning to control your breathing, you can help calm yourself down every time you are feeling anxious. Proper breathing technique is done by breathing in and out slowly. Although it may be difficult to breathe effectively, breathing exercises can greatly help calm you down.

• * Practice some relaxation techniques. Practicing relaxation techniques such as yoga, progressive muscle relaxation and meditation can help improve the relaxation response of the body. These techniques not only promote relaxation, they can help increase feelings or joy and equanimity which are said to help in preventing future attacks. Also, make use of music therapy, as it can also help you relax.

• * Slowly expose yourself with what triggers the panic attacks. In doing exposure therapy, you may need the help of a therapist. Exposure therapy means that you will be slowly exposed to the things that caused the attack. This is a very helpful technique in overcoming panic attacks.