A HYPOCHANDRIACS TALE

 Your panic plan
If stress usually precedes a panic attack, then the obvious prescription, you'd think, would be to double up on yoga classes or try some head-calming meditation. Unfortunately, more 'om' isn't the answer. There's no scientific proof that stress-reducing techniques will stifle future panic attacks. Because there's often no predicting when or whether another attack will strike, doctors usually don't recommend therapy or taking meds regularly unless your attacks are frequent and debilitating. But if a panic attack does occur, how you respond can steer you clear of uncontrollable hysterics. Here's how to wage your own war on terror:

Before it happens know that a panic attack will not harm you
'In therapy, we teach patients that although panic attacks are uncomfortable, there's nothing physically dangerous about them,' says Kimberly Wilson, Ph.D., a cognitive-behavioral therapist in the San Francisco Bay area and a psychiatry instructor at Stanford University.

Open up about your attacks
If you know you're susceptible to panic attacks, let friends, family, or even a trusted co-worker know the symptoms, so they can recognize one when it's happening and reassure you that you'll get through it,"