Book contents
- Reviews
- Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
- Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- About the Authors
- How to Use This Book
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Persistent and Distressing Worry
- 3 Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts of Harm (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
- 4 Specific Phobias Affecting Pregnancy and the Postnatal Period
- 5 Panic Attacks and Health Worries
- 6 Feeling Anxious Around Other People
- 7 Coping with Traumatic Experiences While Pregnant and After Birth
- 8 Anxiety About Pregnancy and Birth
- 9 Anxiety and Adjusting to Motherhood
- 10 Beyond the Perinatal Period: Taking Your New Skills Forward into Parenthood
- Appendices
- References and Resources
- Selected Resources (A Complete List Can Be Found Online)
- Index
5 - Panic Attacks and Health Worries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 13 October 2022
- Reviews
- Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
- Break Free from Maternal Anxiety
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- About the Authors
- How to Use This Book
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Persistent and Distressing Worry
- 3 Unwanted Intrusive Thoughts of Harm (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder)
- 4 Specific Phobias Affecting Pregnancy and the Postnatal Period
- 5 Panic Attacks and Health Worries
- 6 Feeling Anxious Around Other People
- 7 Coping with Traumatic Experiences While Pregnant and After Birth
- 8 Anxiety About Pregnancy and Birth
- 9 Anxiety and Adjusting to Motherhood
- 10 Beyond the Perinatal Period: Taking Your New Skills Forward into Parenthood
- Appendices
- References and Resources
- Selected Resources (A Complete List Can Be Found Online)
- Index
Summary
Panic attacks are frightening experiences. During a panic, you experience strong physical sensations that feel very serious and threatening at the time. This can leave you fearful of having further panic attacks. This chapter outlines how to understand and beat panic attacks at this time. Pregnancy is a time of lots of physical change and lots of focus on those changes, which can be difficult if you have become worried about physical sensations. It can be difficult managing panic attacks if you are caring for young children. We guide you through the cognitive understanding of panic attacks, that they are driven by understandable but incorrect interpretations of physical sensations. We will help you to apply this theory to your individual situation, to recognise which sensations are particularly frightening, and outline experiments to target behaviours such as avoidance, focus on sensations and other factors that keep the fear going.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Break Free from Maternal AnxietyA Self-Help Guide for Pregnancy, Birth and the First Postnatal Year, pp. 116 - 147Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2022