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ABSTRACT
Panic attacks are a fact of life in today's culture. As much as 10% of the healthy population can suffer a panic attack within a given year. Various methods of treatment have been described in the literature to counteract these panic attacks. It has been noted that it is possible to alleviate panic disorder anxiety by performing convergence therapy. This somatic intervention functions as a vagal maneuver, activating the oculocardiac reflex (OCR) by medial recti traction. It results in bradycardia and other parasympathetic responses. I have found it possible to alleviate panic attack, non-cardiac chest pain and other vagally mediated symptoms by using convergence activity with patients who suffer from panic attacks. I have extended this technique to address noncardiac chest pain and it may be further extended to patients with other anginallike pains. It may be possible to alleviate panic attacks, non-cardiac chest pains, and other vagally-mediated symptoms with this technique. The risk-to-benefit ratio is nil. Research is needed to further elaborate the full spectrum of benefits of this novel technique.
Key Words
angina, extraocular muscles, non-cardiac chest pain, oculocardiac reflex, panic attack, somatic interventions, visual convergence therapy, vagus nerve.
INTRODUCTION
Panic Attack
Panic attacks are sudden episodes of multiple sensations that come upon a person who is under stress. The primary cognitive symptom of a panic attack is extreme, anticipatory anxiety. The sufferer can have the perception of a real or imagined threat to themselves or others, fear of dying, "going crazy," and the most frequent worry is me fear of having another panic attack.1 The emotional stress causes excessive activation of the autonomic nervous system. This is manifested by a parasympathetic overcompensation for the strong response of the sympathetic nervous system associated with the stress. They generally last no longer than about 30 minutes and the somatic symptoms can include increased heart rate/palpitation, non-cardiac chest pain, tremor, breaming difficulty, difficulty with or an inability to speak, nausea or stomach irritability, and severe perspiration.2 The inherent response can also lead to temporary loss of bladder control under moments of extreme fear. The vagal portion of this reaction can cause fainting (syncope) because of a sudden drop in blood pressure and heart rate. Vasovagal syncope affects young children and women more...