LET’S TALK ABOUT MENTAL ILLNESSES
What Does It
Mean To Have Panic Disorder?
Does It Mean
Someone Is Panicked And
Out of Control
All The Time?
Not exactly. Everybody, at one time or
another, feels stressed-out or panicky.
But people with panic disorder have more than just “a case of
nerves.” When they are in the grip of
the panic attacks their illness brings on, they are swamped with symptoms so
sharp that they may be convinced they are having a heart attack or stroke, or
that they are going crazy or dying.
Panic
attacks are a common reaction to extreme stress. Not everyone who has a panic attack has panic
disorder. To be diagnosed as having the illness, a person must have had at
least four panic attacks in a four-week period.
The attacks must include a combination of symptoms such as sweating,
shortness of breath, heart palpitations, chest discomfort, unsteady
feelings, choking or smothering sensations, tingling, nausea or abdominal
distress, feelings of unreality, fear of losing control, dying or going insane.
The
pain these symptoms bring is sometimes so acute that it drives the panic
disorder sufferer to a hospital emergency room; doctors unfamiliar with the
illness may judge the patient is in no danger and send him or her home--an
embarrassing process that may be repeated many times if the proper diagnosis isn’t made.
Often,
the undiagnosed panic disorder sufferer starts avoiding situations or
places--like elevators or buses--where panic attacks have occurred, sometimes
even becoming reclusive.
Panic
disorder afflicts twice as many women as it does men. It knows no racial, economic or geographic
boundaries. Because victims often hide
their illness and because health care professionals often do not recognize it,
it is difficult to gauge how widespread panic disorder is, but the best recent
estimate places the number of Americans suffering with panic disorder or
phobias at 13 million.
Recent
studies suggest that panic disorder’s roots are both physical and
psychological. Researchers have found
the illness runs in families--a fact which supports the idea that the condition
may pass genetically from generation to generation. Exploring this lead, some researchers are
looking into the brain and its chemical processes for clues to panic disorder’s
causes. Panic disorder has been called
one of the great impostors among illnesses because it is so easily mistaken for
other medical or psychiatric problems, such as heart disease, thyroid problems,
respiratory problem or, hypochondriasis. To correctly diagnose the disorder, the
physician or psychiatric physician will first ensure that the patient has had a
thorough physical exam, and will piece together a complete
knowledge of the patient’s background, history of drug and alcohol use (or
abuse) and medical history to gain the complete understanding needed to begin
treatment.
Today,
psychiatrists treating panic disorder have a number of medicines and therapies
they can use to help their patients.
Typically, treatment involves education about the illness, medication if
warranted, psychotherapy and behavioral treatment techniques such as relaxation
training.
Effective treatments and ongoing research are
bringing new hope for recovery. Earlier diagnoses are significantly reducing
the complications of untreated panic disorder and, with appropriate psychiatric
treatment, nine out of ten sufferers will recover and
return to normal life.
NAMI OF
GREATER
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