I think it may be generally agreed that the fewer medications you take, the better.
As far as mental illness is concerned, drugs don't so much cure, as 'stun' the illness.
Usually you have to keep on taking the pills, or the condition will come creeping back.
Crashing back, in some instances.
The answer to 'can I cure panic attacks' is a resounding 'yes,' and by cure, I mean cure, not merely hold the condition at bay.
The only caveat is that what will work for one person, won't work for another.
Let's make sure you're really having panic attacks first, though.
Do you suffer symptoms such as chest pains, racing heart, a sense of impending doom or outright terror, feeling your life is out of control, breathing difficulties, sleep problems, feelings of unreality? Any or all of these could be either warning signs, or full blown attacks.
The first treatment you might consider is hypnosis.
This treatment has had a bit of a bad rap over the years, but mainly due to quacks and people out to make quick, easy money out of people's suffering or gullibility.
It should be remembered that hypnosis has been considered a bona fide treatment by the American Medical Association since 1958.
It can alter the way various situations are looked upon by the mind, so narrowing the focus that you become more relaxed and not so overwhelmed when a panic attack rears its ugly head.
The second method, believe it or not, is humour.
Yes, I know that sounds funny in itself when first you hear of it, but bear with me.
The theory is very straightforward.
Steven Sultanoff, Ph.
D, a clinical psychologist in Irvine, California, puts forward the treatment.
He's the past president of the American Association for Therapeutic Humour.
Actually, this is a treatment that anyone may try on themselves.
The idea is to prompt patients into remembering situations that were so amusing, that just the thought of them makes them laugh uncontrollably.
When they feel panic rising, then they go back to that situation.
The point behind it all is that when you're anxious, the level of your stress hormone, your serum cortisol, rises.
There's strong evidence that laughter puts it back in its place.
Both the third and fourth treatments are put forward by Diane Roberts Stoler, Ed.
D, a licensed psychologist in Georgetown, MA.
The method she used for over 25 years was our old friend, cognitive behavioral therapy.
She also reports using hypnosis with some success, but mainly she found that CBT was the more satisfactory.
However, fairly recently, she started using energy psychology.
This, therefore, is the fourth method.
She received special training in this system and it consists of tapping certain acupressure points, which presumably the acupuncturist would explore with needles.
She states that each thought we have produces an energy field, and these various energy fields fire off chemical changes in the body.
Her reasoning is that while talk therapy explains why you have these changes, energy psychology deals with the 'chi,' or energy field related to that thought.
Diane Stoler is now a firm believer in this method, because she says that she's seen excellent results far more quickly.
Again, this is a method that can be taught to anyone who wishes to treat themselves.
I lay these four methods before you without comment, but in all fairness, I do feel that each has its own merit