CBT for Panic Disorder

Are you suffering from a panic disorder and looking for a natural solution to tackle the root causes of your panic attacks? If yes, this guide will inform you about the depths of CBT which is the gold standard treatment for panic disorders. 

What Is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) ?

CBT stands for cognitive behavioral therapy. It is a type of psychotherapy used to manage various mental health disorders, including panic disorder. It works on the idea that a person’s reaction towards situations is influenced by how the individual cognitively perceives them.

By practicing CBT, an individual can change the perception of the different circumstances in life and act accordingly. CBT will help in changing the person’s behavior from negative to positive towards situations in life. 

Research has proven that CBT is effective whether it is prescribed in a face-to-face session with a therapist or an online session, which is more accessible. It is a great treatment option for a panic disorder in both cases.

How Can CBT Help with Panic Disorder?

CBT is the go-to effective treatment for panic disorder. The objective of CBT is to assist the individual in developing skills and different approaches as well as to identify the association between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors; then devote those skills to enhance their thoughts and behaviors.

Individuals with panic disorder are usually more prone to negative thinking, which can lead to low self-esteem and affect mental health. The main and utmost goal of cognitive behavioral therapy is to assist an individual in replacing their negative thoughts with positive thoughts and how to overcome the negative thought process.

CBT can also help lower and manage the complications of panic disorder such as agoraphobia. CBT instructs managing skills particularly related to anxiety to manage the panic disorder, including refocusing, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving techniques, and relaxation techniques.

CBT can also allow individuals to consider the triggers of their panic attacks, and discover methods to reframe these circumstances to be less triggering. The most critical part of this therapy in treating panic disorder is to make sure the individual makes the most improvement, and practices the skills cultivated in therapy and beyond. So, the skill must be applied in real circumstances.

Limitless Counseling offers CBT for panic disorder in Illinois and Wisconsin. 

CBT Techniques Used for Panic Disorder

Cognitive behavioral therapy has many types and techniques for treating a panic disorder. This type of therapy is customized as per the severity, needs, and problems of the individuals. These techniques can be used alone or in combination for better effect giving the long-term benefits for a patient having a panic disorder.

MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is a tool to become more comfortable with anxious thoughts and feelings coming and going versus always trying to push them away. For panic disorder, it helps individuals to experience their fears without reacting negatively towards them.

COGNITIVE RESTRUCTURING

This is the main and most important technique of CBT for panic disorder. It is a manner of evolving more consciousness of the provoking factors towards anxiety, identifying them, following their patterns, and then replacing them with better approach thinking. By decreasing the intensity of your responses to anxiety and fear, you can have better control over your panic disorder. It also helps in lowering the intensity, duration, and frequency of panic attacks.

Cognitive restructuring helps in replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. The CBT therapist will foremost help an individual in identifying his or her negative thoughts and direct them to ponder how they perceive those in a realistic environment during an attack. Then a wide range of activities and practices to help them to replace negative with positive.

RELAXATION THERAPY

The second most important technique is a relaxation therapy approach of CBT for panic disorder. During an attack, an individual is usually under a lot of stress that leads to muscle tension, the inability to think, and making them more prone to additional anxiety. 

Relaxation therapy helps lead to a decrease in physiological anxiousness. This therapy involves:

• Breathing exercises
• Muscle relaxation exercises
• Yoga
• Grounding exercises
• Meditation

These techniques assist in handling fears, decreasing stress levels, controlling heart rate, and enhancing problem-solving skills. 

It is important to note that relaxation techniques can be used incorrectly and exacerbate symptoms, therefore it is helpful to work with a CBT therapist to learn when and how it is most helpful to use these tools.

EXPOSURE THERAPY & DESENSITIZATION

After practicing cognitive reconstructing and relaxation techniques the individuals can now handle the situations better than before, so exposure therapy can come into play. This type of technique exposes the individuals to face the fears they usually avoid by exposing them to stimulants that trigger their attack purposely. This will help them to diffuse that fear until eventually their reaction is manageable. 

With repeated exposure therapy sessions, individuals habituate to anxiety triggering stimuli and the therapist guides the patient on how to manage the thought process during the exposure.

WRITING EXERCISES

Writing is undoubtedly a great practice, adopted to release stress as well as treat panic disorder. Writing helps in increasing awareness and also helps in replacing negative thoughts. The CBT writing techniques include:

• Keeping a panic diary
• Journal writing
• Maintaining a gratitude journal 
• Writing affirmations
• Using an e-journal for convenience

SKILL BUILDING

The CBT therapist also works on building positive and useful skills for individuals with panic disorder. Skills like:

• Healthy coping tricks
• Coping up with maladaptive behaviors
• Stress reduction
• Managing a panic attack
• Anxiety management

How Much Time Does CBT Take to Effect?

Cognitive behavioral therapy duration depends and varies between individuals. The severity of symptoms and willpower can affect and delay the duration of treatment. 

Usually, CBT takes 12 – 16 sessions on average to show positive results, which usually takes place over a 3 – 4 months time period in weekly sessions of 50-60 minutes.

Can You Practice CBT at Home for Your Panic Disorder?

CBT is usually practiced within a controlled environment and with a qualified therapist. However, you can still practice not all but some of its components at home after receiving guidance from your therapist including:

MUSCLE RELAXATION EXERCISES

At home, you can perform progressive muscle relaxation exercises to overcome anxiety. These include relaxation techniques for individual muscle groups and full body techniques:

Full Body

• Tighten and squeeze all muscles in your body for 5 seconds and slowly release.

Legs 

• Flex your toes towards your feet, tighten for 5 seconds, and release.
• Point your feet towards the ground with your toes while your heel is up in the air, tighten for 5 seconds, and release.
• Squeeze the thighs tightly with each other, tighten for 5 seconds, and release.

Arms

• Shrug your shoulders up and squeeze them tight for 5 seconds, and release.
• Make fists, flex your arms, squeeze your biceps, tighten for 5 seconds, and release.
• Make fists, keep a good pressure of your fingers on your palm, tighten for 5 seconds, and release.

Face

• Make wrinkles on the face on your forehead and show your teeth, tighten for 5 secs, and release the tension in your forehead and mouth.

Abdomen & Back

• Tighten your abs, tighten for 5 seconds, and release.
• Press your shoulder blades together, tighten for 5 seconds, and release.

BREATHING EXERCISES

You can learn breathing exercises and do them at home with a pattern of 4, 4, and 6. You can repeat this for 10 minutes per session and do it 2 – 3 times a day. These are the steps:

• For 4 seconds breathe in through your nose. 
• For 4 seconds hold that breath inside.
• For 6 seconds breathe out the air.

GROUNDING EXERCISES

Grounding exercises are a type of focus exercise that focuses on anything towards your surrounding environment, or building a world of imaginary surroundings and focusing on its detailing. Find a comfortable environment and keep sitting or lying down there for 10 minutes while observing everything with all your senses within the scenario. Observe:

Sight

• What do you see? 
• What can you see in the distance? 
• What do you see close to you? 

Hear

• What do you hear? 
• Are the noises you hear soft or loud? 
• Do they sound close by or far away?

Feel 

• What can you feel? 
• Is it warm or cool? 
• Is there a breeze? 
• Is your skin warm? 

Taste

• What do you like? 
• Are you eating or drinking something? 
• Is it sweet or savory?

Smell

• What can you smell? 
• What does the air smell like here? 
• Is the scent strong or faint? 

In A Nutshell

Cognitive behavioral therapy is undoubtedly the best and foremost treatment option that will have the most effective results in controlling, managing, and decreasing the intensity of a panic disorder. You can practice some of its aspects in your home setting by yourself, however it is better to always follow your therapist for every aspect to ensure each technique is being done properly and safely in regards to your individual characteristics. 

Note, CBT is risk-free but it might not work for everyone, especially if solely done on your own without professional help. Some people might need other treatment options or a combination of CBT with other treatment methods to truly lead to effective improvement.