Panic disorder is a disorder that is characterized by repetitive panic attacks. The main symptom of panic disorder is panic attack which is a random wave of intense and overwhelming fear and anxiety that last for a few minutes to an hour.
Understanding Panic Disorder
Panic attacks, in most cases, come without warning. A panic attack could happen anywhere provoked or unprovoked. It could even occur while the person diagnosed with it as at sleep.
Panic attacks could be one-time events, but most people experience repetitive episodes that may happen for years. People who have had a panic attack in the past could potentially experience more episodes in the future. Usually, panic attacks occur in places where they have first manifested or in circumstances that often provoke such attacks.
People who have panic attacks are not necessarily sick, because they are healthy, normal people who have minor issues with anxiety and fear. However, most of them have accompanying disorders like depression, anxiety disorder and phobias.
Symptoms
The classic symptoms of panic attack include lightheadedness, irregular heartbeat, feeling dizzy, and general sense of having a heart attack. Most patients describe the symptoms as having an overwhelming sense of going crazy or an impending doom. No wonder, it is widely considered as one of the most terrifying experience a person could undergo.
A full-blown panic disorder includes a combination of the following symptoms:
Physical : Hyperventilation or shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest discomfort or pain, shaking or trembling, choking feeling, sweating, upset stomach or nausea, lightheadedness, hot or cold flashes, and tingling sensations throughout the body.
Psychological : Feeling of unreal body, of being detached from one’s surrounding or feeling ’spaced out’, fear of dying, of losing control and of going crazy, and general sense of having a heart attack.
You may be suffering from panic disorder if you :
Have had a panic attack at least once.
Worry excessively about experiencing another attack.
Modify your behavior as result of fear or anxiety over experiencing a panic attack.
Causes
The exact causes of panic disorder are yet to be fully discovered. However, experts have identified that it does run in the family, that is directly linked to major events in one’s life, and is deeply tied to traumatic experiences. It may also be tied to specific medical conditions such as hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, withdrawal from certain medications, mitral valve prolapsed and use of certain medications.
Treatments for Panic Disorder
Panic disorder and panic attacks, regardless of the severity of the condition, is treatable by specific psychological therapies and medications. Among the therapy that produce the best results are:
Cognitive behavioral therapy or CBT – This is a quite popular technique used for treatment of several different psychological disorders such as anxiety disorder, agoraphobia, and other phobias. This therapy method focuses on fixing the patterns of behavior and thinking that provoke and sustain a panic attack. It teaches the patient to view his fear from a more realistic perspective.
Exposure therapy – Exposure therapy uses a controlled environment to trigger an attack. Thereby allowing the patient to create better coping mechanisms for handling an attack.
Other options for treating panic disorder include use of medications and application of self-help techniques.
Panic disorder can be a deeply unsettling condition. Although it may be intensely and overwhelmingly frightening for people who are suffering from it, there are actually solutions that can minimize the frequency and intensity of each attack. Know more about this condition by dropping by my website.
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