Imagine that you are sitting alone in your room. It is quiet, and you are calmly reading a book. Suddenly someone comes up behind you and yells "Hey!!" You become startled and frightened. A surge of adrenaline overcomes your body. Your heart begins to race, your legs to tremble, you have butterflies in your stomach. After a moment, those effects have passed, and your body feels normal once again. These are the same symptoms you may suffer from if you are afflicted with Panic Disorder. In the case of Panic Disorder however, these feelings of distress can be experienced frequently, even when there is no situation presented to warrant them.
             Panic Disorder is a form of Anxiety Disorder, and is suffered by up to 2.4 million Americans each year. It is classified by those who suffer from frequent and unprovoked panic attacks, along with feelings of anxiety about when and where the next attack will take place. (www.nimh.nih.gov) Signs of this disorder usually begin at the end of adolescence, ages 18-24. They can be due to hereditary factors, or stress. Although it is undetermined why, women are twice as likely to develop the disorder. (http://panicdisorder.about.com)
             Although panic attacks can be a normal thing, and most people will experience a panic attack at some point throughout their lives, when they become frequent it is often a sign for concern. When panic attacks turn into panic disorder, it becomes a life altering condition. Because of the debilitating nature of such attacks, sufferers are often times left unable to cope with the most routine situations.
             Panic attacks provoke very intense feelings of distress in those who suffer from them. People describe a variety of very disturbing symptoms when experiencing such an episode. Many experience the feeling of impending death, and feelings that there surroundings are "surreal". Physical symptoms include a significantly increased heartbeat, s...