Panic attacks become so critical for our day-to-day life that with this kind of psychological problem we will be quite motivated to seek medical attention. From another hand, if someone was told that nothing was wrong or the problem was pure psychiatric, the patient may feel upset or embarrassed or even ashamed to ask for any further help. This situation can create the following serious problems:

Agoraphobia is often joined with panic disorder with a sensation of entirely unreasonable fear of being in situations or places from which the escape might be difficult or impossible, where the help might not be available in the event of a panic attack. Modern science of sleep considers agoraphobia to be a harsh form of phobic avoidance forcing those people who suffer from panic disorder to avoid crowds, public places, stage presentation, movie theaters, stadiums and arenas, or just traveling by boat, bus, or plane. The most dramatic stage of this disorder is it progresses to the point when a person will not leave home at all.

Anticipatory anxiety. This condition is usually initiated by thinking that another panic attack about the possibility of could possibly happen. When it happens, it might lead to anticipatory anxiety forcing the person to start looking for solitary and/or withdrawn from the rest of the world. These patients tend to confront the attacks by themselves rather than being in public whereby there is no possible escape from the attack and a very minimal chance of help.

Avoidance. Having wrong opinion on what actually is the cause of the panic attack, people who experience those attacks may stop activities they think are the triggers of panic attacks, such as: driving, resting in the park, taking elevators, or do any activities, which could, in their opinion, might be upsetting their body feelings. Here is the dangerous area for those who suffers from panic avoidance: even avoidance maybe temporarily helpful over the fear of the possible panic attack and loss of control, it makes regular life almost impossible. The most disturbing fact is that the avoidance, especially in people who have been diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder would not stop the attacks from happening.

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Panic Disorder Statistics

It has been observed that about  twice as many women as men experience panic disorder. Also, it has been noticed that there is no much difference in occurrences of panic disorder among people of different economic, ethnic, and/or geographic backgrounds. The begins of panic disorder typically starts when the patients are in their 20’s, usually preceded by a traumatic event , which could have initiated the first attack, such as: the death of a parent, broken relationship, failure on exam, or a car accident. It is, however, very common that most people suffering from panic disorder are incapable of associating their first panic attack with any particular incident in their life.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), more than 3,000,000 Americans will experience panic disorder or a trace of it sometime in their lives. Strangely enough, there is a very common notion assuming that panic disorder is inherited in families, by supports this idea. It is also have been studied and confirmed the fact that people with panic disorder are inclined  to other forms of illnesses, such as: anxiety, depression,  an alcohol or drug abuse. It is also has been proven that more than 50% of people with panic disorder will experience depression, at least once, during their life span. Panic disorder becomes more severe when accompanied  by alcohol and drug abuse.

As it mentioned before, there are two general treatment options that available for people with panic disorder:

1. medication

2. cognitive behavioral therapy

Both of these treatment solutions have success rates from 60% to 90% depending on severity of the illness. As we know now, both treatment options are similarly effective and can be advised and may be chosen based on a patient’s preference.

About 15 million American adults have social anxiety disorder 

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Basics

The following 5 steps are the most important and often quite sufficient in treating panic disorder by simply persuasion:

1. Learning. The very first stage is learning and educating yourself. Medical doctor, usually the psychiatrist, will explain the disorder, will teaches how identify the symptoms, and will describe the treatment plan.

2. Monitoring. Patients are obligated to keep a diary for monitor panic attacks and by making notes about any anxiety-inducing situations.

3. Breathing. The medical doctor provides training on breathing relaxation techniques to affectively deal and resist the physical reactions to a panic attack.

4. Rethinking. The most important task any medical doctor will face is to help the patient to change his/her understanding of panic disorder physical symptoms from disastrous to real.

5. Exposing. The medical doctor also helps the patient to control situations, where apparently frightening physical sensations might have gradually accelerating intensity.

Fast heartbeat

Feeling shaky

Difficulty breathing

Tingling or Numbness

Dizziness

Sweating

Shortness of breath

Chest pain

Rapid or pounding heart beat

Hot or chill flashes

Fear of losing control, “going nuts,” or dying

Trembling or wobbly

Sensations of choking

Abdominal pains

Nausea

Feeling unreal or disangaged

Faintness  

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A recent study shows that people who diagnosed with panic disorder:

are more inclined to alcohol and other drugs

have higher risk of committing suicide

spend significant  time in emergency rooms of hospital

spend limited time on sports, hobbies and other useful activities

demonstrate tendency to be financially dependent on others family members

are afraid of driving more than a few miles away from home, on highways, or in airplanes

Do we treat panic disorder?

It has been recognized by medical professionals that a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapies are the best treatment for panic disorder. Treating panic disorder with medication might also be considered in some cases. The actual process of panic disorder treatment could be described as follows:

The first part of therapy is largely informational

Many people have been helped by simply understanding what panic disorder is, and how many people are suffering from it.

Some people worry that their panic attacks leads to their ‘going nuts’ feeling.

Others might think that the panic might induce a heart attack.

Cognitive restructuring (changing one’s way of thinking) replaces those thoughts with other, more realistic and highly positive ways of viewing the attacks and their possible origin.

In general, cognitive therapy helps the panic disorder patient identify possible triggers for the panic attacks. The trigger of panic attacks depends on each individual and could be just, a situation, a thought, or something as delicate as a slight change in heartbeat. As soon as the patient realizes what the panic attack is, separate its symptoms and understands how they are triggered, he or she begins to lose some of its power inducing an attack.

Interoceptive exposure, as a group of physician has identified, is the behavioral components of the cognitive therapy. This is similar to the systematic desensitization, which makes somebody less responsive to an overwhelming fear by repeated exposure to that feared situation. In real or superficial circumstances desensitization used to cure phobias, by focusing on a specific exposure of physical sensations during a panic attack.

Panic attacks can strike anytime, anywhere, and without warning. People may live in fear of another panic attack and may avoid those places where they happen to experience an attack. When fear takes over, they cannot leave their homes.

• Breathing difficulties, feeling as ‘I can’t get enough air’
• Tingling in fingers or toes, similar to ‘
• Heartbeat racing
• Abrupt chills or swift flashes
• Lightheadedness, nausea, or dizziness
• Sweating, trembling, or unexpected shaking
• Almost paralyzing fear of something that switch to the feeling of terror
• Fear of getting crazy or even going to die
• Developing chest pain, and/or choking,

Watch Video: Panic Disorder

General Observation of Panic Attack
By itself, a panic attack is not dangerous, however, it can be quite terrifying, mainly due to the feeling of ‘getting nuts’ and ‘out of control.’ Panic disorder is very much frightening experience, because it is directly linked to panic attacks, which are usually associated with panic disorder. Also, panic disorder often leads to other possible complications, such as: depression, phobias, substance abuse, medical complications, and even suicide. The effects of panic disorder can vary from a simple verbal expression, like word, or social imbalance, to a entire inability to confront or tolerate the outside world. Interestingly enough, variety of phobias developed by people with panic disorder, in fact, do not come from fears of any objects or from any particular event, but rather from the fear of starting another attack. It becomes habitual for those people to avoid certain situations, certain people, or specific objects because they have an experience developing fear that those things might trigger another panic attack they want to keep away from.
What happens during panic attack?
What is strange that during a panic attack, those symptoms, which have been described above, seem to appear from nowhere. In fact, they occur in apparently harmless situations. Also, they can even happen while you are asleep and/or while you experiencing . Any shortness of breath or just a nightmare can be possible triggers for initiating a panic attack.
How to recognize Panic Disorder?

You need to remember that only a medical practitioner in the position to properly diagnose a panic disorder. Study shows that it is not a surprise when people go to see 10 or more medical doctors before being properly diagnosed. In addition, only one out of four people with panic disorder receive the treatment they are looking for. That is why very important to know what panic disorder symptoms are. That is how you could be sure occasional panic attacksof getting the right help. There is no any reason to worry if you experience occasional panic attacks, if you have even if you have one or two such attacks. 

There is the key to the panic disorder: if you experienced several panic attacks, and if you those attacks combined with a persistent fear of having another attack, then these conditions are the signals that you should consider immediate visit to a mental health professional who specializes in panic or anxiety disorders. In addition to the above listed symptoms, a panic attack is generally manifested by the following conditions:

• It happens abruptly, with no warnings of any sort
• When it happens, there is no way to stop it
• Intense of fear is out of any reasonable proportion to the actual situation
• As a rule the actual panic attack is completely unrelated to the situation or surrounding conditions
• It diminishes in minutes, however, the body is not capable to sustain that attack for longer period
• Unfortunately, repeated panic attacks may reoccur for within a few hours