The Terror of Everyday Life

Many of us take for granted the demands, challenges, and uncomfortable moments that we face throughout the day. Fears are an inherent part of life in the world, though they are usually manageable. Whereas, during childhood, fears tend to be many and out of proportion; as we mature into adulthood, they are more manageable or we simply learn to cope, compensate, or hide them from the rest of the world.

Not so with the 11% of the population that suffers from panic attacks, often recurrent. These individuals, two and a half times more likely to be women than men, experience a kind of ongoing terror. Events and circumstances that might cause the rest of us a twinge of fear, or go unnoticed, often run the very lives of those individuals with panic attacks. They go out of their way to avoid situations or circumstances that are frightening. This may mean plotting alternative driving routes free of bridges or freeways, avoiding airplanes at all cost, or making excuses anytime there is a social event involving a crowd. Their lives become more and more narrow as the perceived threatening situations assume ever greater proportions.

Different Strokes for Different Folks

In homeopathy, no two individuals experiencing panic attacks are the same. Common symptoms of the experience are heart palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, sweating, chills, numbness and tingling, abdominal discomfort, difficulty breathing. In conventional medicine, one of several anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medications is prescribed. A homeopath is much more interested in what the patient with panic attacks experiences that is not characteristic of the diagnosis. It is by delving more deeply into the unique experience of each person with panic attacks, that a homeopath finds that each is distinct.