"It started 10 years ago, when I had just graduated from college and started a new job. I was sitting in a business seminar in a hotel and this thing came out of the blue. I felt like I was dying."
"For me, a panic attack is almost a violent experience. I feel disconnected from reality. I feel like I'm losing control in a very extreme way. My heart pounds really hard, I feel like I can't get my breath, and there's an overwhelming feeling that things are crashing in on me.
"In between attacks, there is this dread and
anxiety that it's going to happen again. I'm afraid to go back to places where I've had an attack. Unless I get help, there soon won't be any place where I can go and feel safe from panic."
Symptoms of Panic Attacks
People with panic attacks, like the person in the preceding section, have feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly without warning.
They can't predict when a panic attack will occur, and many people develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying about when and where the next one will strike.
If you are having a panic attack, you may experience the following symptoms:
- Pounding heart
- Feeling sweaty, weak, faint, or dizzy
- Hands may tingle or feel numb
- Feeling flushed or chilled
- Nausea
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain or smothering sensations
- A sense of unreality
- Hot flashes or chills
- Fear of impending doom or loss of control.
You may genuinely believe you're having a
heart attack or losing your mind, or that you're on the verge of death.
Panic attacks can occur at any time, even during sleep. A panic attack generally peaks within 10 minutes, but some symptoms may last much longer.
Diagnosing Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder
People with recurrent panic attacks may have a medical condition called
panic disorder. Panic disorder is diagnosed either after four panic attacks within four weeks or after one or more panic attacks followed by at least a month of persistent fear of having another one. A minimum of four of the symptoms listed in the previous section must have developed during at least one of the panic attacks.
Many people with panic attacks and panic disorder visit the emergency room repeatedly or see several doctors before they obtain a correct diagnosis. Some people with the condition may go for years without learning that they have a real, treatable illness.
The risk of developing panic disorder appears to be inherited. Not everyone who experiences panic attacks will develop panic disorder. For example, many people have one panic attack, but never have another one. For those who do have panic disorder, however, it's important to seek treatment. When left untreated, the disorder can become disabling.
Other Medical Conditions and Panic Attacks
Panic disorder is often accompanied by other serious conditions, such as
depression, drug abuse, or alcoholism, and may lead to a pattern of avoiding places or situations where panic attacks have occurred. For example, if a panic attack strikes while you're riding in an elevator, you may develop a fear of elevators. If you start avoiding elevators, it could then affect your choice of a job or apartment, and greatly restrict other parts of your life as well.
Some people's lives become so restricted that they avoid normal, everyday activities, such as grocery shopping or driving. In some cases, they become housebound. Or, they may be able to confront a feared situation only if accompanied by a spouse or other trusted person.
Basically, these people avoid any situation in which they would feel helpless if a panic attack were to occur. When people's lives become so restricted, as happens in about one-third of people with panic disorder, the condition is called
agoraphobia. Early treatment of panic attacks can often prevent agoraphobia from developing.
Treatment Options for Panic Attacks
Proper treatment helps 70 to 90 percent of people with panic disorder, usually within six to eight weeks.
Statistics on Panic Attacks
Approximately 2.4 million American adults ages 18 to 54, or about 1.7 percent of people in this age group, have panic attacks in a given year.
Panic disorder typically develops in late adolescence or early adulthood.
About one in three people with panic disorder develop
agoraphobia, a condition in which they become afraid of being in any place or situation where escape might be difficult or help unavailable in the event of panic attacks.
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