Cure Anxiety - Interoceptive Exposure Treatment

Suffering from anxiety can be very stressful and very scary. Anxiety can come on suddenly and lead a person to start avoiding activities they enjoy through fear. Not surprisingly, being able to cure anxiety is a dream that most people who experience these symptoms have.

During anxiety, a sufferer will often experience symptoms such as a racing heart beat, a feeling of panic, sweating and shallow breathing. These physical manifestations of anxiety usually go along with an overpowering sense of impending death or disaster. Confused by their symptoms, the sufferer might believe that they have a physical problem - indeed, many people mistake anxiety for depression.

Anxiety can be cyclical and, once started, the cycle is not easy to stop. Anxiety can be triggered when a person experiences a usual anxiety symptom, which leads to further anxiety. For example, a person exercising may notice their heart rate increasing, which makes them anxious, which can lead to them experiencing more symptoms. This will lead to more anxiety, which can cause the symptoms to reoccur more frequently. The cyclical nature means it can be hard to prevent anxiety, and to stop anxiety once it has started.

What is wonderful to know is that now we have a proven therapy for stopping this vicious cycle, one that can actually cure anxiety. It is termed Interoceptive Exposure and functions through exposing the anxiety sufferer to the physical manifestations of anxiety over and over again in a controlled, safe setting. The subject causes these feelings by hyperventilating (sometimes breathing through a small straw) for a short while. As one purposefully copes with these sensations, he or she experiences several changes which offer the assistance needed to prevent anxiety from plaguing his or her daily existence.

By exposing yourself to these sensations repeatedly, your anxiety will actually decrease in time. The reason this method works so well is that planned exposure allows you to experience your fear in a controlled manner. As you live through the panic, you learn that, despite how scary the attacks are, they are actually not dangerous. Learning this gives you power over the anxiety, and your anxiety will decrease in both severity and frequency.

As the Interoceptive Treatment continues, your anxiety will become milder and less common. The symptoms related to such attacks are not inherently hazardous and can be successfully treated. Such treatment is often used to cure anxiety and to prevent their recurrence in the future, allowing you to take control of your life.