Panic Disorder
What is panic disorder?
Panic disorder a severe persistent mental health condition which is characterised by recurrent and unexpected panic attacks which are discrete and followed by anticipatory anxiety or behaviour change as well as cause marked distress and interferes with social and individual functioning.
What are the signs and symptoms of panic disorder?
Individuals experience discrete periods of intense fear or discomfort, in which symptoms of extreme anxiety develop rapidly and reach a peak in about ten minutes.
During these brief moments, individuals may experience any combination of the following symptoms:
Fear of loosing control, going crazy, having a heart attack or dying
Palpitations or heart pounding
Sweating
Shortness of breath and feelings of choking or suffocation
Trembling and shaking
Chills and hot flashes
Chest pain or discomfort
Feeling dizzy, lightheaded or faint
Feeling detached from oneself or feeling the surroundings are unreal
Nausea and abdominal discomfort
Numbness and tingling sensations in the extremities such as fingers
Concerns about heart attack, breathing problems and dying often lead individuals to present to emergency departments
How common is panic disorder?
Over the lifetime, four out of every hundred people would develop a panic disorder.
Majority of individual with panic disorder first experience symptoms in their young adult years or in their late forties or early fifties.
What causes panic disorder?
Panic disorder is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.
Which mental conditions commonly coexist with panic disorder?
Other anxiety disorders such as agoraphobia, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, OCD commonly coexist with panic disorder
Depression
Alcohol and substance misuse
How is panic disorder treated?
If you feel you are having any of the signs and symptoms of panic disorder listed above the first this to do is to consider visiting your Family Doctor or talk to a healthcare professional.
Your doctor will take a history from you, do a mental state examination, perform a physical examination and may order some blood tests before confirming you have panic disorder.
Once it is confirmed you have panic disorder, your doctor may prescribe you some medication such as SSRI antidepressants, and in some cases, your doctor may refer you to see a psychiatrist, who is a doctor who is an expert in treating individuals with mental health difficulties.
Your doctor may also refer you to a clinical psychologist or mental health therapist or counsellor to receive individual or group psychological treatment referred to commonly as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).
CBT is a form of counselling in which the therapist helps an individual change the negative patterns of thinking which affects the individual’s behaviour and attitudes. Components of CBT when used to treat panic disorder include relaxation training breathing exercises and control of hyperventilation and anxiety management.
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