Panic Attack Treatment in Jaipur

Understanding Panic Attacks

A panic attack is a surge of intense fear that peaks within minutes and comes with strong physical symptoms. A single attack can happen to anyone under severe stress. Panic disorder is diagnosed when attacks keep coming unexpectedly and you spend weeks worrying about the next one, or change your life to avoid it.

Many people with panic disorder begin avoiding places where escape feels difficult, such as crowded markets, buses, lifts or long drives. This is called agoraphobia, and without treatment it can steadily shrink a person’s world. Panic often occurs with depression, other anxiety disorders, or heavy caffeine, alcohol or substance use.

Common signs and symptoms

• Sudden pounding or racing heart
• Chest tightness or pain
• Breathlessness or a choking feeling
• Sweating, trembling or shaking
• Dizziness, light-headedness or feeling faint
• Tingling or numbness in the hands or face
• Feeling unreal or detached from yourself
• Fear of dying, losing control or going mad
• Constant worry about the next attack
• Avoiding places, travel or exercise in case an attack comes

Causes and risk factors

• Family history of panic or anxiety disorders
• An oversensitive alarm system in the brain that misreads normal body sensations as danger
• Major stress, loss or life change
• Caffeine, nicotine, alcohol or cannabis, and withdrawal from them
• Medical conditions such as an overactive thyroid or heart rhythm problems, which are checked during assessment

When should you see a psychiatrist?

Consider booking an appointment if these difficulties have lasted more than two weeks, keep coming back, or are affecting your work, studies, relationships or daily routine. You do not need to wait until things feel unbearable; early treatment is usually shorter and more effective.

How Dr. Surabhi Mathur makes a diagnosis

Your first consultation is an unhurried conversation about your symptoms, how long they have been present, your medical and family history, sleep, stress and any substance use. Where needed, Dr. Mathur uses standard rating scales and may suggest blood tests to rule out physical causes such as thyroid or vitamin problems. You leave with a clear explanation of what is happening and a treatment plan you have agreed to.

Treatment options

• Medical check and explanation

  Ruling out heart, thyroid and other physical causes with simple tests, and explaining the panic cycle so the symptoms stop feeling like a catastrophe.

• CBT for panic

  The most effective therapy for panic disorder: you learn to read body sensations differently and, step by step, to face them and the situations you have been avoiding.

• Medication

  SSRIs and related medicines prevent panic attacks over several weeks and are not habit-forming. Sedatives such as alprazolam may stop an attack but cause dependence, so they are avoided or used only briefly.

• Breathing and grounding skills

  Slow-breathing and grounding techniques that help an attack pass more quickly and with less fear.

• Lifestyle changes

  Cutting down caffeine and alcohol, with regular sleep and exercise, which lowers the body’s baseline level of alarm.

How long does treatment take?

Most people have far fewer attacks within six to twelve weeks of starting CBT or medication, and many become free of panic altogether. Medication is usually continued for nine to twelve months after you feel well, then reduced gradually. The skills learned in CBT keep working after treatment ends.

Why choose Dr. Surabhi Mathur in Jaipur?

• MBBS, MD (Psychiatry), Consultant Psychiatrist at Narayana Hospital
• Trained in psychotherapy and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)
• Plans that combine therapy, medication and lifestyle care
• Strictly confidential, non-judgmental consultations
• Clinic in Nirman Nagar, Mon–Sat by appointment
• Hospital care at Narayana Hospital when it is needed