Many sufferers of anxiety, panic attacks, and panic disorder have tried to control their symptoms with medication, but unfortunately, this is not an ideal solution. For the majority of people, the commonly-prescribed medications don’t fully control symptoms, and side effects ranging from mild to severe are often a problem, and may result in the person having to discontinue the medication.

Physicians who prescribe medication for panic attacks and anxiety disorders will often not take a patients concerns about side-effects seriously or they may deny that what the patient is experiencing is even a possible side-effect of the medication. This may be out of denial on the part of some physicians that what they prescribed could possibly be doing harm, or it may simply be that they feel the side-effects are a good trade-off if the drugs help with the patients panic attacks and anxiety. Either way, many doctors will avoid dealing with patient concerns about side-effects if they can.

The lack of communication about the potential problems of medications between doctors and patients can lead to frustration for many patients. Some sufferers of panic attacks and anxiety wind up giving up hope for a real solution and resolve themselves to tolerating the side effects as best they can in the hopes that the medication will keep their anxiety and panic symptoms to a tolerable level.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are effective methods for handling panic attacks and anxiety without medication. Various self-help and professional counselling techniques allow individuals to prepare for panic attacks, and train them to calm themselves down quickly and effectively. These methods include cognitive therapy, the Sedona Method, Emotional Freedom Technique, and Neuro Linquistic programming (NLP).

Each of these methods has its own unique strengths. While one may work better for a given individual than another, all of them provide tools to help panic attack sufferers to take back control of their minds. The vast majority of people are able to use one or more of these methods to make panic attacks and anxiety a thing of the past.

All of us know that laughter is good for us. We’ve heard it being repeated over and over again about how laughter promotes good health, emotional well being etc. But do we actually know how laughter specifically benefits us?

Two of the most significant benefits of laughter are through inducing positive chemical and hormonal effects in the body, and by re-framing our experiences.

MEDICAL BENEFITS OF LAUGHTER – There have been various medical studies made on the benefits of laughter. In fact, many doctors around the world encourage patients to rent funny movies, cartoons, listen to jokes etc to help in their recovery. Laughter is not just an external display of happiness, but within the body there are stuff happening too. This is how it affects ones health;

i. Blood Pressure – Laughter helps lower our blood pressure by naturally making us breathe deeper and fuller after a good bout of laughter.

ii. Good Exercise – When we laugh, we exercise various muscle groups in our body including the face, chest, back, abdomen and diaphragm. This good work-out can help burn calories and improves the digestion process.

iii. Endorphins – When we laugh, a type of hormone called endorphin is released into the body. The release of this hormone makes us feel good and it is also a natural pain reliever.

iv. Brain Power – When you’re laughing, it involves both hemispheres of the brain. This encourages a more balanced mental process especially in creativity and problem solving.

LAUGHTER CHANGES OUR PERSPECTIVE AND STATE – When you laugh, what you’re doing is telling yourself that you can handle the situation. Unconsciously that’s what you are telling your brain. This way we re-frame our experience quickly. Instead of automatically labeling a situation a crisis, were calling it a laughing matter.

After all many things are not worth getting worried and upset over. Its just part of life. It’s not the end of the world. By responding to challenges with laughter you are putting yourself in an empowered state to tackle whatever issues you are facing.

When feeling stressed, angry etc, our judgment will often lack of accuracy and objectivity. We will tend to perceive things as being worse than it actually is. Laughter brings things back into perspective.

There is absolutely no reason at all for us not to smile and laugh more often throughout the day. Make it a point to cultivate this habit. The more you laugh, the more it becomes a habit.