What is Panic Disorder

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You may have heard of panic disorder or even experienced the symptoms but what is panic disorder and how does it come about?

Panic Disorder can show up as periods of very intense anxiety coupled with a number of very real physical symptoms and a feeling of absolute dread that something really terrible is about to happen.  It often starts shortly after a particularly stressful time or stressful event in your life.

A panic attack is an episode of sudden, very intense, often unexpected anxiety which causes a whole range of physical symptoms such as your heart pounding, being short of breath, feeling sick, numbness, tingling, a feeling of losing control, feeling that you are about to die.  A panic attack is extremely alarming.  Typically people who suffer from panic attacks seek help quite early simply because they are concerned that there is something physically wrong with them.

They may be worried that they are having a heart attack or a stroke. This fear of panic attack symptoms usually makes a diagnosis of a panic disorder much easier than a lot of other anxiety disorders.

Some people may feel that a panic disorder is quite trivial, after all it is just a panic attack, but it can completely disrupt peoples’ lives and is a debilitating condition.  If left untreated people can literally become housebound for many years.

Stories of people being affected by panic disorder for twenty or thirty years are not uncommon but generally speaking doctors are good at diagnosing a panic disorder early on. 

The important thing to understand with a panic attack is that it is relatively short lived and will pass in time.  It is also important to understand what stresses you are under which could be triggering a panic attack. 

To learn how to overcome panic attacks it is important to understand and accept that the physical symptoms that you are experiencing are exactly the same as you would experience if you were very excited or very angry.  They are simply the body’s way of responding to certain things and are in no way harmful.

Once you have managed to accept this you can then move on to address the causes of panic attacks perhaps through some kind of cognitive therapy helping you to become more self aware and manage the stress that has caused the panic attack in the first place.

Panic Disorder is completely treatable and the vast majority of people successfully treat panic disorder and panic attacks and go on to live completely normal lives.