The vast majority of people in the general population have experienced a panic attack at some point in their lives. For some the attack was triggered by a sudden fear-provoking event, a sudden trauma or by something that caused them an intense thrill. For others who experience panic attacks however, they begin to trigger for inappropriate reasons and more frequently than normal. When this occurs, the condition has become a panic disorder and may continue to worsen if the sufferer does not seek treatment. About 6-million people in the U.S. alone suffer from panic disorder according to the NIMH.
Panic Attack Symptoms
Anxiety symptoms in general include feelings of fear, sped-up heart rate and breathing, tightness in the chest, tensed muscles, lightheadedness, diverted concentration, profuse sweating, body tremors, intense blushing and dry mouth. With panic attacks, these symptoms occur suddenly and with strong intensity and if they occur with frequency, the term “panic disorder” would apply. Panic can also cause feelings of unreality referred to as “depersonalization and derealization” and those suffering them often experience catastrophic thoughts, such as believing the attacks will cause them heart attacks, insanity or sudden death.
Panic Disorder Restricts Lives
In the vast majority of people who suffer panic disorder, the condition doesn’t pose a serious threat to health and with anxiety being a condition of “neurosis” and not “psychosis”, the fear of insanity it may cause is an irrational thought and will not occur. This does not take away from the fact that these type fears often accompany the disorder and as a result can cause sufferers to begin avoiding things they fear may trigger panic attacks (phobias).
Triggers for panic can begin to increase over time, so that many different things become phobias to a panic disorder patient. Something as simple as shopping at a supermarket can cause panic attacks in susceptible individuals because they feel they are in a situation where an attack will cause them embarrassment and that they will find it hard to escape without notice from others. They may feel trapped in a sense in any place where they feel panic may occur or where it might be difficult for them to receive emergency care.
Panic That Develops into Agoraphobia
Some people with panic episodes commonly experience thoughts of needing to be taken to hospital emergency rooms and some do actually check into emergency rooms when experiencing their first attack(s). When panic disorder causes severe restriction of activities a patient may also be diagnosed with “agoraphobia”, another anxiety condition in which a person becomes fearful to venture outside of their home. This is why it is important that treatment is administered as early as possible in people who develop a panic disorder.
Treatments
Panic disorder is responsive to medications commonly used to treat anxiety symptoms, such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Tricyclic Antidepressants (TCAs), Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) and Benzodiazepines.
Natural supplements that are reported to be helpful to some anxiety sufferers who use them include Valerian, Kava and Chamomile teas, St. John’s Wort, Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) and SAMe (S-Adenosyl-Methionine). Herbals and natural supplements should however be approved by your doctor especially if you are treated with prescription medications of any kind.
Psychiatric therapies can also be effective in treating anxiety disorders and in helping anxiety patients learn coping methods including those who suffer panic attacks. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) continues to be one of the more successful therapies available with a high treatment success rate.
Treatment options should be discussed with a licensed doctor or mental health care professional.
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