How to overcome exam anxiety and panic attacks- college and test anxiety

A panic attack is described as being sudden, discrete periods of intense anxiety, mounting physiological arousal, fear, stomach problems and discomfort that are associated with a variety of somatic and cognitive symptoms. If you suffer from panic attacks or an anxiety disorder, you don't need a text book to tell you what one is, you know what it feels like. You've experienced the terror that courses through you.

For those who don't know, or who are not yet convinced that they too suffer from panic attacks there are a list of symptoms that you may experience during a panic attack.

They include:

Racing heartbeat

Chest pains

Upset stomach

Dizziness

Nausea

Difficulty breathing

Loss of sensation

Hot or cold flashes

Sensory distortions or hallucinations

A unexplained feeling of terror

Fear of dying

As you can tell the symptoms are many and terrifying. To learn more about the symptoms of a panic attack and about a treatment that can be successful if followed check out Panic away

When it comes to panic attacks or anxiety disorders the biggest risk is not to the body but to the mind. That is to say, it's not so harmful physically as it is mentally and emotionally.

A panic attack is essentially an overreaction to outside stress. During this overreaction the body prepares itself to either fight the situation or flee from it. This is why your body systems change. Your heart rate increases, digestion stops, blood flow to your brain, arms and legs increase, etc. These are not bad things in and of themselves, in fact the physical symptoms of a panic attack are very similar to a aggressive workout are are not harmful to the body.

I want to emphasize, during a panic attack you are in no physical danger.

The harm then is to you mentally and emotionally. The fear of having another panic attack can cripple your confidence and cause you to shy away from having a social life. You begin to avoid going outside because you are afraid of the terror you experience during an episode and because of the embarrassment from having an attack in public. You develop a "safe place" and you hate to leave that place, you may even begin to feel paranoid when you leave your safe place.

Mentally, you may begin to see a loss in performance. You don't go to work or class because of your fear of an attack. You may loose out on valuable work time or information and when its time for an exam or performance review you really begin to stress. I once knew a person that would study for hours on end until she knew everything in the class. Then when it came time for the exam she began to panic and second guess herself. Soon a mental block formed in her mind and she couldn't remember all the information she studied until after the exam. Because of her panic attacks her classes really began to suffer.

If this sounds like something you have experienced know that there are some treatments that have met with success. No treatment will work though if you are not willing to try them and stick with them. To learn about a treatment that can help you if you are willing to work with the program check out Panic away It is not a magic cure, but if you are really suffering with panic attacks then you will do anything to overcome them.

No one treatment will work for everyone 100% of the time. And no treatment will work if you are not willing to first work for the treatment. If you are not willing to see through with a treatment then there will be no magic cure for you, no pill, no surgery. If you will not take the first step then you will have to learn to live with your panic attacks for the rest of your life. That is the decision I was faced with, and I decided to take a step. It was not easy, no treatment will be. Nor was it magical, any treatment that offers that is a guaranteed fail. No it was work and it took time, but I stuck with it and you can too.

Joe Barry has been helping people overcome panic and anxiety disorders for years and this is what he has to say on treatment:

"The key difference between someone who is cured of panic attacks and those who are not is really very simple. The people who are cured no longer fear panic attacks. I'll try to show you how to be one of these people as well.

What if I told you the trick to ending panic and anxiety attacks is to want to have one. That sounds strange, even contradictory, but let me explain.

The trick to panic attacks is wanting to have one-the wanting pushes it away. Can you have a panic attack in this very second? No!

You know the saying that "what you resist, persists." Well that saying applies perfectly to fear. If you resist a situation out of fear, the fear around that issue will persist. How do you stop resisting-you move directly into it, into the path of the anxiety, and by doing so it cannot persist.

To be rid of the fear you must metaphorically jump. You must jump off the cliff edge and into the anxiety and fear and all the things that you fear most.

How do you jump? You jump by wanting to have a panic attack. You go about your day asking for anxiety and panic attacks to appear."

Sounds radical doesn't it? Sounds different, sounds like nothing any of the doctors or self help gurus have every told you. And you know what? If none of those people helped you then maybe it is time to try something different.

I can't promise it will work for you like it did me, but I CAN promise that if you don't try it and if you don't work at it, then nothing will work for you.

Get ready to work at having a more relaxing and successful life and check out Panic away