Panic attack symptoms can take on a variety of forms, but for people coping with this type of anxiety disorder, one symptom is almost universally experienced - fear. The physical symptoms of a panic attack, ranging from pain and fatigue to hyperventilation, will differ from person to person, but the sudden and intense sensation of irrational fear is a symptom that is present in most, if not all cases. This fear, unfortunately, is the single most difficult symptom to treat.

Panic Disorder: The Fear of Fear

The very first panic attack a person experiences can be alarming and intimidating to say the least. One minute everything is going fine, and then, without any warning, a powerful sense of unexplainable fear has taken them hostage. Maybe the attack happened in the car while driving or while in the checkout line at the grocery store. Regardless of where it happened, the complete suddenness of the attack is the most difficult factor to comprehend, often leaving the panic attack victim wondering if it could happen once without warning, couldn't it happen again?

Ironically, this fear of experiencing another attack can manufacture so much stress and anxiety that it becomes almost inevitable that another episode will occur. The person becomes so terrified of having another panic attack that he/she actually causes one.

This cycle of fear, as the experts call it, is the most challenging panic attack symptom to treat. Eventually, the dread of having another panic attack can become so severe that the panic sufferer will gradually begin to isolate from the outside world. And this decision can have far-reaching consequences, both private and professional, damaging personal relationships and causing job performance to suffer.

Exposure Therapy

One way (and perhaps the best way) for panic attack sufferers to treat this "cycle of fear" is to face it head on, a strategy which is the cornerstone of exposure therapy.

Exposure therapy, much as the name implies, is a treatment strategy in which people are gradually exposed to certain situations which cause them trepidation and fear. By facing these fearful situations steadily, instead of all at once, people suffering from panic attacks can begin to grasp that their fear - a fear which is slowly ruining their life - is irrational and entirely unwarranted.

For example, if a person experienced her first panic attack at the grocery store, she may develop a paralyzing fear of shopping, convinced she will almost certainly experience another episode if returned to the same environment. Now since never eating again is out of the question, and having friends and family complete all her shopping is an imposition, the only other option is to face this fear and somehow move beyond it. With exposure therapy, she can gradually return to the store a step at a time, limiting her visits to just a few minutes at first, and gradually increasing the amount of time with each subsequent visit. The goal of cause is that over time, and many exposure sessions, she will learn to modify the way she reacts to these irrational fears and worries.

When living with panic attacks, and all the accompanying emotional and physical symptoms, facing the things which frighten us can be a very difficult proposition, but unfortunately it is the only truly effective strategy for conquering them once and for all.