Panic Disorders And Its Effects On The Social Life

Anxiety disorders is the most common psychiatric disorder characterized by unrealistic, unfounded fear, and anxiety in which perhaps possible related to the thoughts and concerns about the current or future events. Long episodic attacks of acute anxiety can cause a panic attack and eventually lead to a panic disorder. This paper examines the panic disorder and its biological foundation that relates with the disorder and symptoms.

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

Those women who had history of various physical disorders and were anxious about their health tended to develop panic disorder rather than another anxiety disorder such as social phobia (Rudaz, Craske, Becker, Ledermann, & Margraf, 2010). Thus, these woman may have learned in childhood that unexpected bodily sensations may be dangerous—whereas other people experiencing panic attacks do not. This tendency to believe that unexpected bodily sensations are dangerous reflects a specific psychological vulnerability to develop panic and related disorders. Approximately 8% to 12% of the population has an occasional unexpected panic attack, often during a period of intense stress over the previous year (Norton, Harrison, Hauch, & Rhodes 1985). Most of these people do not develop anxiety (Telch at al., 1989). Only approximately 5% go on to develop anxiety over future panic attacks and thereby meet the criteria for panic disorder, and these individuals are the ones who are susceptible to developing anxiety over the possibility of having another panic attack (a general psychological

National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) defines Panic disorder as characterized by recurring, unforeseen panic attacks followed by at least 1 month of persistent worry about having another attack and concern about its consequences, or a significant change in behavior related to panic attacks.

To the general public, anxiety tends to be known simply as the feeling of being overly nervous. However, in the sense of this paper, anxiety is an umbrella term for a group of psychological disorders that, while similar in many ways, can vary greatly in their symptomology. For the sake of simplicity, this paper will focus mainly on Generalized Anxiety Disorder; however, the National Institute of Mental Health (2016) states that the three most common forms of anxiety disorders are Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, and Panic Disorder (National Institute of Mental Health, 2016). In fact, these disorders are much more common than many think: according to the NIMH, the lifetime prevalence of any anxiety disorder in U.S. adults

The eminent psychiatrist, Dr. Paul Hoch, in his classic treatise on differential diagnoses in the field of psychiatry made the observation that symptoms of anxiety and depression were components of every major psychiatric disorder (Hoch, 1972). Everyone also experiences anxiety which is typically defined as a diffuse, unpleasant, and sometimes vague sense of apprehension; however, anxiety disorders, psychological disorders whose main component is anxiety and lead to significant disruptions in a person's everyday functioning, are among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions in the world (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000). Moreover, there is abundant empirical evidence that anxiety disorders when left untreated may increase the risk of cardiovascular-related disorders and other health concerns (APA, 2000). Therefore it is important to be able to distinguish the proper anxiety disorder diagnosis and initiate treatment. One of the most disabling of all the anxiety disorders is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

"Panic attacks are a serious health problem in the U.S. At least 20% of adult Americans, or about 60 million people, will suffer from panic attacks at some point in their lives. About 1.7% of adult Americans, or about 3 million people, will have full-blown panic disorder at some time in their lives, twice as often for women than men. The peak age at which people have their first panic attack (onset) is 15-19 years" (Panic Attacks, 2012). Another fact about panic is that this symptom is noticeably different from other kinds of anxiety; panic attacks are so very abrupt and frequently unexpected, appear to be unprovoked, and are frequently disabling This paper will look at what a panic attack is, what causes them, how they can be prevented and what can be done to treat them.

Anxiety disorders are so incapacitating and have many different types of categories in its self with its own unique sets of symptoms. Anxiety can become so rigorous that it can begin to affect relationships and even a person’s life. Some known are: obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), social phobia (or social anxiety disorder), specific phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) disorders are some of the most commonly seen ("Frequently Asked Questions about Anxiety Disorders"). Discussions in this research paper will summarize the most commonly seen one; Generalized Anxiety and how it affects us. We will discuss what it is? Its symptoms, how it comes about, why it is misdiagnosed, and treatments.

Statistics from the American Psychological Association (2015) indicate that one person out of every 75 people might be suffering from panic disorder. Referring to it as a serious condition, they go on to explain that panic disorder is a common

Panic Disorder is a condition that causes people to feel overwhelming and intense fear without an actual danger being present (“Panic Disorder Sick”). In the year 2003, 19.1 million people between ages 18 and 54 were affected by some sort of anxiety disorder, like panic disorder, in the United States (“Anxiety Disorders”).

Panic disorder is a psychological condition in which the individual experiences sudden and severe symptoms of anxiety (tachycardia, sweating, tremors). This is often an out of proportion response to a non-threatening situation.

The patient is a middle-aged white male. He appears to be well kempt, dressed neatly but casually and somewhat dully in jeans and a button-down shirt. He is slightly overweight. He responds to the interviewer in a friendly and cooperative manner, and they seem to have adequate rapport. He mostly maintains good eye contact, although not staring, and he tends to look briefly away when relating incidents that could make him emotional. He tends to respond positively when answering followup questions, for example agreeing that even when not having an anxiety attack, he does worry about when the next might strike, and curtails his activities as a result. His facial expression

Persons that have an onset of panic attacks do not recognize, the attack, rather they think they maybe having a heart attack. Panic attacks are caused through family history, abnormalities in the brain (triggers flight or fight), substance about a major life; stressors (WebMd, 2005). Attacks can occur anytime of the day, even during sleep, most attacks can last an average of a couple minutes up to ten minutes. People who often complain of panic attacks are often accompanied by other conditions that have a effect on panic attacks such as; depression or alcohol/ drug use to cope or prevent symptoms (psychcentral,

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

The main issues to address about social anxiety disorder and panic disorder are the fact that they are mental illnesses, the crippling anxious and nervous feelings, panic attacks, the overwhelming fear, and hyperventilating