Panic disorder definition, causes, symptoms, risk factors, prevention, cures

 

What is panic disorder?

Panic disorder is a kind of anxiety disorder where you are afraid of sudden attacks of fear. When panic attack is occurred, it might be felt that you have a heart attack, not getting control on yourself, and even dying. Panic attack can be occurred at any time. Those people who have a panic attack, worry of getting attacked by another attack. And for this they change their lifestyle. Panic attack is mostly experienced once or twice in lifetime. But it can also occur without any kind of clear reasons. One in 10 adults are attacked by this every year, usually they are aged from 15 to 25. But it is a fact that panic attack is more common in women than men.

Causes

Like many other mental conditions the cause of panic disorder or panic attack is unknown. But some things may play a vital role in this case:

• If your family had panic disorder
• Neurotransmitters imbalance in your brain
• Experiencing a stressful life
• Often negative feelings
• Having trouble with dealing to negative emotions 
• Anxiety
• It is also believed that some other things can also be mentioned: alcohol abuse, smoking, depression, risk of suicide and seasonal affective disorder

Symptoms

Panic attack can start without any kind of warming. May be when you are busy in an important meeting, at the time of driving, in walking and so on. This panic attack have varieties. Some of the symptoms of the panic attack are given below:

• Having breath shortness
•  Dizziness
•  Nausea
•  Pain in chest
•  Dry mouth
•  Sweating
•  Chills
•  Racing heartbeat
•  Trembling
•  Shakiness of limbs
•  Hot flushes
•  Fear of losing control or death
•  Headache
•  Tightness of throat
•  Unreal or detached feeling
•  Chocking feeling
•  Numbness
•  Tingling
•  Abdominal cramping

You have to remember that many of these symptoms can also be of any other problems. For an example, a symptom of panic attack is racing heartbeat. But you need to remember that if you have low blood pressure, this can cause fast or racing heartbeat. So there is no reason to think or consider that you have panic disorder or panic attack if you have those symptoms.

Risk factors

Women have panic disorder more than men. It is shown in research that anxiety disorders including the panic disorder are more usual than men. So, it has some risk factors:

• If your family has any panic attack or panic disorder in the previous history
•  Smoking
•  Excess caffeine intake
•  Sexual abuse
•  Huge change in your life
•  Major life stress

Prevention

There is no exact way for preventing panic disorder. But these may help you:

• If you get treatment for panic disorder, this might prevent this attack from being worse 
• You have to stick to your treatment plans
•  Getting physical activities is also a good choice

Cures

Reducing the symptoms of panic disorder is the main focus for treatment. If you have any symptoms of panic disorder, immediately consult a doctor. He may examine you via some physical tests to identify the problems. Also he may refer to a professional of mental health, usually a psychologist, psychiatrist, or clinical social worker. This disorder is usually treated with psychotherapy, which is called the talk therapy. Also medication is used for the treatment. Some recommended treatments are given below:

• Therapy usually includes Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) which teaches different ways to think, behave, and react to the feelings during or before panic attack so that you can understand and manage your fear
•  Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs), serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are usually included when it comes to the matter of medications for the disorder
•  Pregabalin, Clonazepam, benzodiazepines are also used for the treatment of panic disorder (these medicines can also be used for the treatment of anxiety)
•  Regular schedule maintenance
•  Regular exercise
•  Alcohol limitation
•  Stimulants avoiding
•  Sleeping enough