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
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She stated that it was an odd an indescribable feeling of separation from her surroundings. She told me that her heart was pounding, and that her stomach felt like it was permanently “dropped through the floor”. Pharmacological therapies experiment with the success of using antidepressants, MAO inhibitors, as well as very potent benzodiazepines. When the symptoms occur, people become afraid (experiencing a fear of dying or feeling a loss of control or sanity). Although panic disorders can be due to hereditary factors, stress is usually a catalyst for them as well. The most common things that occur after and attack are avoidance, anticipatory anxiety, and agoraphobia.
Often times these sensations can run in a vicious circle around the person afflicted with the disorder. Anticipatory anxiety is when a panic attack is prompted by the thought and worry of having a panic attack.
When I asked Jennifer how she was feeling, she explained first of things felt almost “dream-like”. She is unable to work, concentrate, or handle social situations. Physical symptoms include a significantly increased heartbeat, sweating, hot flashes, pain in the chest, shortness of breath, trembling of legs and hands, the sensation of “butterflies” in the stomach, etc.
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