WHAT IS PANIC DISORDER?
At least 1.6 percent of adult Americans, or 3 million people, will have panic disorder at some time in their lives. The disorder is strikingly different from other types of anxiety in that panic attacks are so sudden, appear to be unprovoked, and are often disabling.
Once someone has had a panic attack-for example while driving, shopping in a crowded store, or riding in an elevator-he or she may develop irrational fears, called phobias, about these situations and begin to avoid them. Eventually, the pattern of avoidance and level of anxiety about another attack may reach the point where the individual with panic disorder may be unable to drive or even step out of the house. At this stage, the person is said to have panic disorder with agoraphobia. Thus panic disorder can have as serious an impact on a person's daily life as other major illnesses-unless the individual receives effective treatment.
- But!What Is a Panic Attack Anyway?
A panic attack is an intense physical and mental chain reaction. It can begin with a simple bodily sensation or a thought about something threatening. Within seconds, a chain reaction is underway, involving fearful thoughts, escalating physical reactions, and feelings of terror and desperation. In most cases, a panic attack will start with a variety of symptoms and peak within 10 to 15 minutes before gradually tapering off. The aftereffects, however, can last a long time. Sometimes, it can take a day or so just to get back to your usual mental and physical state after a panic attack. Over time, panic attacks can begin to alter the way you think, behave and feel in your everyday life, even when you're not having an actual panic attack.
One way to think of a panic attack is as a "false alarm." We all have a built-in system that's supposed to alert us to danger so that we're ready to either defend ourselves (fight) or escape (flight). It's the old "fight/flight response." We need this alarm system so that we don't get eaten by bears, flattened by busses, or whatever. But when you have a panic attack, your alarm system goes off without any real danger. It's like a "false alarm" that goes off, signaling danger that isn't really there or is much less serious than your reaction suggests. It's kinda like those car alarms that go off in the middle of the night because a cat jumps on the car, or the wind blows, or someone sneezes two blocks away . . . kind of annoying!
Anyway, while the specific causes of panic attacks are not known, experts think a lot of different factors probably contribute to panic attacks. For example, some people may just be more physically susceptible to panic due to their biological makeup. Their alarm responses may be more sensitive than others' or they may be more "tuned-in" to their bodies in ways that increase their chances of having "false alarms." For other people, experiences of trauma or abuse may increase their chances of reacting to future events with a "hair triggered" alarm response. In other cases, a person's tendency to bottle up emotions, like anger, sadness, or grief, may lead to an increase in stored-up tensions that later come out as panic. Still other people experience panic attacks because of the effects of certain drugs on their minds and bodies.
Source:
The Counseling & Mental Health Center
The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station A3500 * 100 West Dean Keeton St., Austin, Texas 78712-0152
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