Anxiety Attacks Symptoms.
For the victim of an anxiety attack (adult or teenager) the symptoms are truly terrifying. Generally speaking, the symptoms of anxiety (panic) attacks are things like; tightness across chest / throat, nausea, dizziness, trembling / shaking, hyperventilating, shortness of breath, tingling fingers, hot / cold flashes, sweating, palpitations, a feeling of detachment from reality and a sense of some impending doom / a feeling you're going to die, etc.
Note that some of these symptoms could also be signs of other things, so you must always consult your healthcare professional for a proper diagnosis. For the purposes of this article, we'll assume that we are dealing with true anxiety attacks.
What Causes Anxiety Attacks in Teenagers?
First, let's consider a person (teenager or adult) with normal levels of everyday stress and anxiety. When such a person is faced with the usual stressful events of modern life they can generally handle them without much problem because the combination of the stressful event on top of their normal everyday stress and anxiety levels doesn't reach critical limits.
However, in the case where someone with already high anxiety levels is faced with similar stressors, these stressful events when added on top can project the overall anxiety levels past this critical level. The type of stressful events, particularly among teenagers, that can do this are things like; studying for exams, going on a date, a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend, problems at home, problems in school / college, sports competitions, speaking on stage, etc.
When the overall anxiety level spikes above this critical level, the body's unconscious mind wrongly perceives this 'spike' in stress and anxiety to be a sign that the person is in some kind of physical danger. When this happens, the mind and body are switched on to a 'fight or flight' mode. This is a primeval reaction the body uses to protect itself in moments of danger.
But of course there isn't any physical danger, all that's happened is that the unconscious mind has 'read' the anxiety spike as one and acted as it is programmed to do by switching to the fight or flight mode. In this mode certain chemical and physical reactions are triggered to help you either fight your way out of trouble or run to safety.
And since you are unaware of any physical danger (because there isn't any) and start to experience these chemical and physical changes, you experience them as unwelcome and unexpected symptoms as described above, i.e. an anxiety attack.
Anxiety Attacks Treatment Options
First line treatment usually takes the form of drug-based medication such as tranquilizers, antidepressants and / or beta blockers. These are used to control and manage the chemical reactions in the brain in order to relieve the symptoms of anxiety and anxiety attacks. These can work quite well for some people but they do have some horrible side effects ranging from diarrhea to dependency issues. Which is why more and more sufferers are using totally natural treatments.
Sometimes doctors will also recommend non-drug therapies such as psychotherapy, counselling, support groups, and, self-help remedies like meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga, even acupuncture. Other remedies are things like herbal treatments, massage, controlled breathing exercises, good diet, daily exercise, relaxation exercises, aromatherapy, and many more.
These all tend to help you 'cope' with your condition, while the drugs address the symptoms. But they all miss one important thing...
Fear of Anxiety Attacks - Beat This and Beat Anxiety
Teenagers who suffer anxiety attacks -- in fact anyone who suffers them -- have a fear (conscious or unconscious) of having another one. This is natural because the symptoms are so frightening. But this fear builds upon their already heightened anxiety so that the overall anxiety levels are increased even more. And as we've seen above a normal everyday event can easily then project this into a fight or flight response which triggers an anxiety attack.
This is called the Cycle of Anxiety and needs to be broken in order to prevent anxiety attacks and cure the underlying general anxiety.
Note that some of these symptoms could also be signs of other things, so you must always consult your healthcare professional for a proper diagnosis. For the purposes of this article, we'll assume that we are dealing with true anxiety attacks.
What Causes Anxiety Attacks in Teenagers?
First, let's consider a person (teenager or adult) with normal levels of everyday stress and anxiety. When such a person is faced with the usual stressful events of modern life they can generally handle them without much problem because the combination of the stressful event on top of their normal everyday stress and anxiety levels doesn't reach critical limits.
However, in the case where someone with already high anxiety levels is faced with similar stressors, these stressful events when added on top can project the overall anxiety levels past this critical level. The type of stressful events, particularly among teenagers, that can do this are things like; studying for exams, going on a date, a breakup with a boyfriend or girlfriend, problems at home, problems in school / college, sports competitions, speaking on stage, etc.
When the overall anxiety level spikes above this critical level, the body's unconscious mind wrongly perceives this 'spike' in stress and anxiety to be a sign that the person is in some kind of physical danger. When this happens, the mind and body are switched on to a 'fight or flight' mode. This is a primeval reaction the body uses to protect itself in moments of danger.
But of course there isn't any physical danger, all that's happened is that the unconscious mind has 'read' the anxiety spike as one and acted as it is programmed to do by switching to the fight or flight mode. In this mode certain chemical and physical reactions are triggered to help you either fight your way out of trouble or run to safety.
And since you are unaware of any physical danger (because there isn't any) and start to experience these chemical and physical changes, you experience them as unwelcome and unexpected symptoms as described above, i.e. an anxiety attack.
Anxiety Attacks Treatment Options
First line treatment usually takes the form of drug-based medication such as tranquilizers, antidepressants and / or beta blockers. These are used to control and manage the chemical reactions in the brain in order to relieve the symptoms of anxiety and anxiety attacks. These can work quite well for some people but they do have some horrible side effects ranging from diarrhea to dependency issues. Which is why more and more sufferers are using totally natural treatments.
Sometimes doctors will also recommend non-drug therapies such as psychotherapy, counselling, support groups, and, self-help remedies like meditation, self-hypnosis, yoga, even acupuncture. Other remedies are things like herbal treatments, massage, controlled breathing exercises, good diet, daily exercise, relaxation exercises, aromatherapy, and many more.
These all tend to help you 'cope' with your condition, while the drugs address the symptoms. But they all miss one important thing...
Fear of Anxiety Attacks - Beat This and Beat Anxiety
Teenagers who suffer anxiety attacks -- in fact anyone who suffers them -- have a fear (conscious or unconscious) of having another one. This is natural because the symptoms are so frightening. But this fear builds upon their already heightened anxiety so that the overall anxiety levels are increased even more. And as we've seen above a normal everyday event can easily then project this into a fight or flight response which triggers an anxiety attack.
This is called the Cycle of Anxiety and needs to be broken in order to prevent anxiety attacks and cure the underlying general anxiety.
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