Be sure to make your doctor aware of these symptoms as well. If you have been drinking or using drugs to try to control your symptoms, let your doctor know about that too. Once you have been properly diagnosed, your doctor perhaps in consultation with a mental health specialist can help you determine which treatment is best for you. Effective Treatments for Panic Disorder Treatment for panic disorder can consist of taking a medication to adjust the chemicals in your body just as you might take medicine to correct a thyroid imbalance. Or treatment might involve working with a psychotherapist to gain more control over your anxieties just as some people work with specialists to learn techniques to control migraine headaches or lower their blood pressure.
Research shows that both kinds of treatment can be very effective.
For many patients, the combination of medication and psychotherapy appears to be more effective than either treatment alone. Early treatment can help keep panic disorder from progressing. These patterns of thinking are deeply ingrained, and it will take practice to notice them and then to change them. A therapist can teach you breathing exercises that calm you and that can prevent the overbreathing, or hyperventilation, that often occurs during a panic attack. A therapist can help you gradually become less sensitive to the frightening bodily sensations and feelings of terror.