Remedies For Panic Attacks – Follow Your Nose To End Your Panic Attack

Some of the best remedies for panic attacks can be found right under your nose. If visualization isn’t working and hypnosis only puts you to sleep, if exercise just makes you achier and “talking yourself down” just makes you want to jump, maybe you should try baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies!

Feeling nauseous or having chest pains could just be that pot of chili backfiring on you. That pounding heartbeat or shortness of breath could just be due to the aerobics you just did. But put all those symptoms together, toss is a little panic and fear, and then step it up a few dozen notches by adding the feeling that you’re about to die, and you now have yourself a full blown panic attack. Panic attacks are the primary symptom of Panic Disorder and it’s estimated that 1 in 20 people suffer from these attacks as often as 3 to 4 times a week. Sometimes even daily.

There are various theories about what causes panic attacks. Some say they’re genetic, some say they’re caused by something traumatic that occurred in our childhood and others say they can be brought on at any time just be being under severe stress. While the causes are not known, one thing is for certain. If you have them, the only thing you care about is how to stop them.

I’m sure you’ve heard of all the suggested remedies – visualize yourself in a calm, beautiful place, practice your breathing exercises, focus you mind on something, tell yourself over and over again that you are NOT going to die and that you WILL be alright. You may even have heard of aromatherapy and possibly even given it a try.

But researchers have taken aromatherapy one step further by suggesting that stopping that panic attack is simply a matter of following your nose. That’s right. Your nose knows! These researchers suggest that you sniff aromas that remind you of happy childhood memories. A sniff or two is all it takes to almost instantly stop your panic attack.

Alan R. Hirsch, M.D., a psychiatrist and neurologist who heads the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago, states that, one odor that seems to stop panic attacks in just about everyone who smells it is baby powder. Think about it. Baby powder has such a clean smell and it brings such cute images to mind. Warm, cuddly babies.

Apparently, other odors have a similar affect and they vary depending on where you were born. For instance, for people from the East Coast, flowers have a calming effect, while to people from the West Coast, it’s the smell of barbecue. For those from the South, the preferred aroma is fresh air and from the Midwest it’s farm animals. Other aromas that seem to be excellent remedies for panic attacks are salt air, mom’s home cooking and chocolate chip cookies. So keep some of that frozen chocolate chip cookie dough on hand to pop into the oven the next time you feel a panic attack coming on.