Causes Of Panic Attacks

Tina’s recurrent sudden panic attacks meet the criteria for panic disorder with agoraphobia. She experiences recurrent unexpected attacks, worries about the implications and stays at home because of them, which is a significant change in behavior related to the attacks. These attacks are not due to drug abuse and not accounted for by another mental disorder.

The panic disorder results from an anxiety disorder that causes panic attacks to happen. An example would be when the phone suddenly rings and it makes your heart start to race, or all of a sudden you feel this overwhelming sense of terror even though there is no reason for it. Panic attacks can cause severe physical reactions and sometimes they can feel frightening to the individual that is having the panic attack. The attack can last 10-20 minutes and sometimes it can continue for an hour if it is not controlled. Panic attacks have rushed people to the emergency rooms (ER) because it is frequently mistaken more than often of having all the symptoms of a heart attack, stroke or even a seizure. The symptoms that are characterized by this attack are: feeling weak all of a sudden, tingling or numbness in the hands and fingers, sense of terror of impending death or doom, feeling faint or lightheaded, sweaty hands, having body chills, chest pain, racing heart, breathing difficulties and feeling like your whole body is losing sense of

Persistent concern about having additional attacksb. Worry about the implications of the attack or its consequences(e.g., losing control, having a heart attack, “going crazy”)c. A significant change in behavior related to the attacksB. The presence (or absence) of Agoraphobia.C. The Panic Attacks are not due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g., hyperthyroidism).D. The Panic Attacks are not better accounted for by another mental disorder, such as Social Phobia (e.g., occurring on exposure to feared social situations), Specific Phobia (e.g., on exposure to a specific phobic situation), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (e.g., on exposure to dirt in someone with an obsession about contamination), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (e.g., in response to stimuli associated with a severe stressor), or Separation Anxiety Disorder (e.g., in response to being away from home or close relatives).(APA, 2000)

Panic disorder is dissimilar from the normal fear and anxiety reactions to stressful activities that is a serious illness that strikes without any warning. Panic attacks involve a feeling of extreme anxiety or fear that may last for anyplace among for a few minutes possibly to various hours. Symptoms of panic disorder happens with sudden attacks of fear and nervousness. Also, it causes such as sweating and a racing heart. During a panic attack, the fear response for the situation often is not threatening. Over time, a person with panic disorder develops a constant fear of having another panic attack, which can affect daily functioning and in general in their life. Panic attack is a reaction of the sympathetic nervous system. Panic attacks are not permanently threatening. People can or possibly won’t develop a panic attack at any time in their life. Everyone go through panic in a different way.

Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive anxiety and a feeling of being out of control. In addition, individuals with this disorder often experience a lack of concentration, disturbances in sleep, restlessness, and irritability. This disorder differs from panic attacks in that the anxiety is future based, instead of present based. Due to this difference individuals with generalized anxiety disorder, have anxiety about a situation in which they are not currently in, while people who experience panic attacks initially react to a perceived threat in the environment. Also, generalized anxiety disorder and panic attacks or panic disorder are associated with dissimilar physiological reactions. With panic disorder, there is arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, which results in symptoms such as increased heart rate, trembling and sweating. Physical symptoms of part of generalized anxiety disorder include muscle tension, fatigue, irritability, and difficulty sleeping. For generalized anxiety disorder, there is are biological and psychological vulnerabilities, this is true of panic disorder as well, however there is also learned component; this difference is found in specific phobias in that it often results from learned experiences. In comparison with specific phobias, generalized anxiety

Panic disorder is found in people who have experienced "out-of-the-blue" panic attacks and have a fear of having another attack. Panic attacks almost always occur unexpectedly, even during sleep.

Panic disorder and agoraphobia are two separate disorders that often go hand in hand with each other. An individual can be diagnosed with panic disorder, but a diagnosis without agoraphobia can often take place as well. Some individuals develop symptoms of agoraphobia, but do not have the classic panic disorder symptoms, hence the reason they are both listed as separate disorders in the DSM-5. Panic disorder can be identified as “recurrent unexpected panic attacks. A panic attack is an abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes, and during which time four or more physical and cognitive characteristics take place (Hooley, J. 2017, pg.188).” When dealing with panic disorder it can often become debilitating, due to the fact that the individual does not know when the onset of an attack will occur. Individuals with panic disorder more commonly develop agoraphobia as a comorbid disorder, and if left untreated, can have a difficult time even leaving their home. Agoraphobia can be defined as “the individual fears or avoids

We all experience fear or some anxiety when faced with a stressful situation. When that fear becomes ongoing, it can be known as panic disorder. Panic disorder occurs when a person suffers from recurrent panic attacks that cause them to live in constant fear. The panic attacks are an unreasonable fear response to a typically non-threatening situation. There is no way to predict these attacks as they can be triggered at any time. Typically they last anywhere from one to ten minutes. The person becomes constantly worried about having another attack which greatly affects their ability to function and disturbs their quality of life. They might avoid certain situations or places in attempt to prevent another attack. There are numerous causes and symptoms for panic disorder and many ways for it to be treated.

When the lungs seem to be collapsing and life seems to be steadily slipping away from an unfaithful, shaky grasp, most would dig a grave and call it dying; while some would call it a panic attack. Panic disorder, the unwelcome offspring of anxiety, is not a commonly acknowledged mental illness in today’s society. Panic disorder is a fatiguing, socially cataclysmic mental disease which results in panic attacks. While panic attacks may shower their victims with copious amounts of external, physical effects (pools of cold sweat, frantic movements, inability to breathe, etc.); the most detrimental effects are purely internal.

Panic disorder is something that develops for no apparent reason. It causes repeated and unexpected attacks of intense fear. It can last for a few minutes or even hours. The people that have this disorder usually live in fear of having another attack. They are afraid to be alone, or to be far from medical help. The feelings of intense fear can trigger severe physical reactions. This disorder is very real and treatable.

According to the American Psychiatric Association et al. (2013), panic disorder has been shown to occur in about two to three percent of adults in the United States. Panic disorders have been shown to occur more in Caucasian individuals than in any other race or ethnicity. Females have been shown to be twice as affected by panic disorders than their male counterparts and the differences between the genders can be seen by the age of fourteen. Although the normal onset for panic disorder in the U.S. is usually twenty to twenty-four years old. There have been some cases in which the disorder appeared in childhood or after the age of forty-five although both are unusual occurrences (American Psychiatric Association et al. 2013).

The symptoms of a panic attack are usually so intense they are often described by sufferers as the worst experience of their lives. After having a panic attack, the individual may continue to experience extreme anxiety for several hours. More often than not, the panic episode causes continuous worry about having another attack. It is not unusual to be become so consumed with worry and fear that behavioral changes occur with the hope of avoiding another attack. This may lead to the development of agoraphobia, which complicates recovery and limits one’s ability to function in usual daily activities.

Fear and anxiety are feelings that are natural human responses. These feelings are necessary in humans and animals for survival and to deal with dangerous and stressful events. They/such feelings help individuals cope with adverse or unexpected situations. However, there are certain individuals who will experience these feelings on a daily basis for long periods of time. The constant fear and anxiety interferes with individual’s daily lives and it is then when these feelings become a mental health problem, identify as Anxiety Disorders (Steimer, 2002). One of these anxiety disorders is Panic Disorder. Panic Disorder is characterized by individuals suffering from unpredicted and constant attacks of fear which normally last between 10 to 20 minutes. These attacks are known as panic attacks. Panic attacks are identified by fear of losing control even in situations where there is no real danger. Some of the most frequent symptoms a person experience when having a panic attack are chest pain, palpitations, sweating, feeling short of breath and the feelings of going crazy or having a heart attack (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). Furthermore, people who suffer from Panic Disorder often develop other conditions such as depression, phobias and drug abuse. Many people with Panic Disorder will avoid certain situations and environments because they fear they may suffer a panic attack. Because of this, it is also very common for individuals with Panic Disorder to develop agoraphobia (NIH, 2016). As a consequence of fearing a panic attack, people with this disorder often engage in catastrophic and negative thinking. A common example is “my heart is beating fast, I am having a heart attack” (Steimer, 2002). Therefore, Panic Disorder is a condition that have a negative impact on people’s family, social and working lives (Kessler et al., 2005). Panic Disorder is treatable, and numerous treatments exist which help reducing the severity of the symptoms as well as decreasing the number of panic attacks that occur in the disorder. These treatments are biological treatment, which involve pharmacological drugs, psychotherapy or a combination of both (National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, 2013). This essay

Numerous stresses in everyday life lead people to panic and have panic disorders, which absolutely need treatment. This disorder brings seriousness if left without any treatments. It may worsen to the time when the person might have to step into the attempts to try to avoid that. This attacks anytime with no reason, which means it begins suddenly. Panic disorder was newly founded as psychiatric condition that followed after anxiety disorders. 6 million adults in U.S.A suffers with panic disorder and all countries have at least 2 people out of 10 with panic disorders. Symptoms of panic disorder include difficulty breathing, chest pain, intense feeling of terror and dread, shortness of breath,feeling the sense of choking or smothering, dizziness, headache or feeling faint, trembling and shaking, sweating, nausea or stomachache, tingling or numbness in the fingers and toes, chills or hot flashes, and a fear of losing control. Most important key symptom of the panic disorder is the constant fright of having future panic attacks. The fearness comes from the disorder cause the patients to avoid places and situations where an attack has been happened or they think it may occur. The problem with this enormous amount of people with this disorder is that they do not know if their symptoms are real and not very highly responsive about treatment for themselves. This disorder often show the occurrences of other disorders.

"Panic attacks are characterized by overwhelming surges of fear and discomfort and are one of the most frequently occurring symptoms in psychiatric populations" (Allan, Oglesby, Short, Schmidt).  Panic attacks are usually not triggered by any specific event. Although these attacks don’t have to have a reason, an abundance of stress, such as school work, relationship problems, and conflicts within the  family, can increase the likelihood of an attack. At any time, someone with a panic disorder is eligible to have a panic attack. A panic attack is a sudden feeling of uncontrollable fear or desperation. The body goes numb, perspiration begins, and the shaking is unmanageable. Often the feeling of unawareness is prominent. People with this disorder feel detached from their surrounding and feel as if they have no control over their bodies. Also, when a panic attack is occurring, the patients may fear for their life even though they may not be