Battling Depression And Panic Attacks
How Depression And Panic Attacks Affect Your Mental Health
Depression and panic attacks take a negative toll on your mind and body. They both make you feel unlike yourself and panic attacks can play off of depression. Find out below everything you need to know about panic attacks and depression.
If you know you’re suffering already from panic attacks or depression, call us now at (859) 340-8974 for help!
Diagnosing Depression: What It Is And Seeking Help
Have you been feeling sad lately, no longer enjoy doing things that you once did, or have trouble sleeping or trouble waking up? If so, you may be suffering from depression. Depression is a common major depressive disorder. While it is common, it isn’t something to take lightly.
Depression affects how you feel daily and can make you act like a totally different person. Not only does it affect how you feel, but depression can also create problems for you at work and at home due to not being able to function normally. However, depression is a treatable disorder.
If you or someone you know and love is suffering from depression, don’t be afraid to seek help. Please call us to talk to someone and schedule a telehealth consultation.
How to Kick Depression to the Curb: A Guide to Coping and Self-Help
There are a variety of things that you can do to help cope with depression symptoms. However, in order to do that, you have to know the signs and symptoms of depression. Depression and sadness are two different things.
The symptoms of depression need to noticeably affect daily functioning for at least two weeks to be considered depression.
These symptoms include:
Extreme sadness
Appetite changes causing weight loss or weight gain unintentionally
Lack of energy
Constant feeling of tiredness
Difficulty sleeping
Insomnia
Thoughts of self-harm or suicide
Trouble focusing or thinking
Uninterested in doing things that were once enjoyable
Feeling unwanted
Physical restlessness or slow movements
While seeking professional help is often a good idea to get help with your depression, there are ways to cope and take part in self-help to make your daily functioning more tolerable. A mood booster for many people who cope with depression is exercising regularly. By exercising, you release feel-good endorphins that bring happiness to your soul.
Another method of coping is to make sure you eat a balanced diet with three meals a day and healthy snacks in between. Food is fuel for the body so by eating well, you give your body the energy it needs to get through the day.
Nutrition paired with getting enough sleep so that you’re well rested is the perfect dynamic duo for coping with depression. Avoiding alcohol is also a good idea when you’re battling depression as alcohol is a depressant and makes things worse.
Even with self-help and coping, it’s important to take extra steps to deal with depression. See your primary care doctor or a therapist and tell them about your symptoms. This is the first step to getting diagnosed with depression.
Here at SUN Behavioral Health in Kentucky, we have a no-cost online assessment, telehealth services, adult outpatient programs, and all the help you need right here! Set up a consultation on our website or call now for help at 859-340-8974.
Are You Having a Panic Attack?
Panic attacks can be scary whether you’ve had several before or not. A panic attack is an unexpected wave of extreme fear that occurs when there isn’t a reason to feel fear or there isn’t an actual danger.
A panic attack takes over your body and makes you feel claustrophobic or like you’re having a heart attack. Very intense panic attacks may even make you feel like you’re dying.
Most people will only have a couple of panic attacks in their life if they have one at all, and the issue gets resolved once whatever situation they’re in that is bothering them goes away. However, if you think you suffer from recurring panic attacks that are unexplained and you worry and have fear of another attack, it may be time to talk to your doctor for a possible diagnosis of a condition known as panic disorder.
Pause and Prevent a Panic Attack
In order to know how to prevent a panic attack, it’s important to know the signs and symptoms of a panic attack. They occur unexpectedly and, while there are things you can attempt to do while it’s happening, there isn’t a way to stop it once it starts. After about 10-15 minutes of the panic attack starting, the symptoms are at their highest and will go away shortly after the panic attack ends.
The signs and symptoms of a panic attack are as follows:
Pain in the chest resembling a heart attack
Cold sweats and chills
Feeling claustrophobic
Trouble breathing
Feeling scared about losing control
Irregular heart rate
Nausea, vomiting, and Diarrhea
Tingling through your body
Numb toes or fingers
Trembles
Heightened sense of fear
Feeling like you’re having a seizure or about to die
While there isn’t any surefire way to prevent a panic attack from happening, there are actions to take that may help to lower the chances of having one. Practicing deep breathing through yoga or meditation can improve emotional well-being and ease the stresses going on in your life which could trigger a panic attack.
Exercising regularly will not only keep you physically healthy, but mentally as well. Exercise releases feel-good endorphins and just 20 minutes of light exercise a day can significantly reduce anxiety which is a panic attack trigger.
Seeking counseling and help from a professional is also an excellent way to take action in preventing panic attacks. Therapy could help reveal your depression trigger points that are causing a panic attack and, while you’re seeing a medical professional, they may be able to diagnose you with a panic disorder and prescribe you medications to help.
Certain medications prescribed by doctors such as Xanax can help resolve the symptoms of a panic attack, however they won’t treat a hidden condition such as an anxiety disorder, so most doctors will only prescribe it to be used during a crisis incident. There are also antidepressants such as Prozac that can be prescribe for long-term use and can help with anxiety which is a common panic attack trigger.
At SUN Behavioral Health, we help with adult mood and anxiety disorders, as well as panic disorders, and we can help you too! We’ll get you the solutions you need for the problems your having.
Cause and Effect: What Causes Depression and Panic Attacks and How to Get Diagnosed
The Cause
Let’s start with depression. Depression is a complex disease, so to simply say it comes from a chemical imbalance in the brain is not accurate and many people have become aware of via recent media coverage on the lack of evidence for this hypothesis..
Depression can be caused by a defect in mood regulation, medications, genetics, and stressful life situations. Depression can also be caused from side effects of substance use. Even during a time of happiness such as having a baby, a woman can suffer from postpartum depression caused by rapid hormonal changes.
Panic attacks mainly occur due to anxiety, however there are other things that can cause a panic attack as well. Long periods of stress, certain medication side effects, the use of drugs, and the overconsumption of alcohol and caffeine can cause panic attacks as well.
How to Get Diagnosed
In order to get diagnosed with depression or panic disorder, you need to seek assistance from a healthcare provider like us at SUN Behavioral Health. A physician will determine if you have depression or panic disorder by having you complete a few things.
For panic attacks, you may need to get a physical exam by a physician, complete a blood test to check for other conditions related to your symptoms to make sure it isn’t a different condition, an EKG to test your heart, and a psych evaluation so that you can discuss with a therapist about the issues going on in your life, fears you have, your symptoms and your family history.
To get diagnosed with depression, you have to seek a healthcare provider who can confirm whether or not you have depression. In order to get diagnosed, you have to be suffering from at least five symptoms of depression every day for at least a two-week time period and you need to have a depressed mood or be no longer interested in doing anything as one of the symptoms. You will also go through a physical and psychological evaluation.
By getting diagnosed, your physician can prescribe any medication you may need to help overcome depression. It is also important to seek help from a therapist to discuss what is going on and things that may have happened in your life causing you to struggle with depression.
If you’re suffering with depression, the good news is that you can overcome it! Depression is one of the most treatable mental health disorders with a success rate of about 90% for people who get the treatment they need. Medication, psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and self-help are all used to win the battle against depression.
While you can’t totally prevent panic attacks from happening, you can get treatment that will significantly reduce how often you suffer from panic attacks and reduce the symptoms during a panic attack. The primary treatment options are psychotherapy and medications. There are activities you can take part in at home to combine with your treatment plan such as leisure exercise on a regular basis and breathing exercises. Decreasing your caffeine and alcohol intake wouldn’t hurt either.
Don’t Struggle Alone, Get Treatment Today!
At SUN Behavioral Health we offer a wide range of services to help you or someone you love that is suffering with depression or panic disorder. Going through either of these battles alone can be scary and difficult. That’s why by contacting us at 859-340-8974 we can be with you every step of the way and you’ll never have to fight alone!
We care about YOU and want to help you feel as good as you did before. Call us now for help or schedule a telehealth consultation through our online form. We’re always here for you at SUN Behavioral Health!
What might indicate that you have Depression and Panic Attacks?
If you believe you are suffering from depression, you will struggle with symptoms for an extended period of time such as no longer enjoying activities that you once did before. While that is one of the biggest symptoms of depression, there are others such as thoughts of self-harm or suicide, lacking self-esteem, trouble with every day functions, etc.
Panic attacks occur unexpectedly without any warning signs and can happen whether you’re going about your day running errands, or in a deep sleep. Signs that you are having panic attacks would be feeling like you’re in danger, intense feelings of fear, chest pain, feeling claustrophobic, feeling like you’re dying, etc.
How often can panic attacks occur?
Panic attacks can occur wherever and whenever. While most people generally have a couple in their whole life, if they have any at all, some people may get them more often. If you’re someone who suffers from panic attacks and they seem to happen frequently, seek medical attention as you might be suffering from panic disorder. At SUN Behavioral Health we can assist you by a telehealth consultation, a no-cost online assessment, or you can call us now for help at 859-340-8974.
