An anxiety attack can be devastating to those who suffer from them and leave the person shaking and in fear of the next one and what else might be just around the corner. However panic attacks can be cured given time and the understanding of them and how and why they occur.

Symptoms of a panic attack are simply the effects adrenaline is having on the internal organs and nerves, the adrenaline stimulates the nerve endings and then you take notice of the feelings associated with the adrenaline and magnify them which in turn cause more adrenaline to flow throughout the body and therefore create a never ending cycle of fear.

The symptoms associated with a panic attack are all the symptoms that are normally felt when you are in any form of danger. The seating and tingling hands, shaky legs, quickly beating heart or palpitations, sweating, a sick feeling, a feeling of wanting to run, all these feelings are brought about by the on rush of adrenaline to prepare the body to stand and fight your way out of danger or to run away from it. When the danger passes the feelings subside and go away and nothing more happens, the episode is quickly forgotten, however those who let the feelings bother them, the people who wonder why they are there are then setting themselves a plain target for those same feelings to keep returning. The only problem is that the more the person worries whether they will return then the more likely it is that they will return and this is the onset of the vicious cycle.

Breaking the cycle takes time and patience but it can be done, while the bad habit develops quickly and sticks in the mind easily it is harder to forget and change. What has happened is that these new feelings of panic trick your brain into thinking this is the normal way of thinking, even though the majority of us deep down know this not to be true.

The easiest way to begin to break the cycle and establish your old way of thinking is to simply not care about the feelings that overcome you. At first this is easier said than done as the symptoms can be very distressing at the time, however with a little time it does get easier and then you finally realize that the cycle is kept going by how you think and can be broken.

At the onset of a panic attack, be it palpitations, sweating, dizziness or any other symptom, try to remain as calm as possible and take a slow deep breath in through the nose, hold it for a second and release it slowly through the mouth. Do these while letting the feelings you have sweep over you and continue to breathe slowly throughout the attack. Once you don't give the feelings too much thought you will find that they do subside, and the more you practice this, the easier they do subside until finally you are back in control of your body and your feelings.

Don't think though that as soon as you start this new way of thinking the panic attacks will cease immediately, occasionally they do once realization sets in, but in some cases it takes time and patience. The most important thing to remember is that it does work.