Anxiety Panic Attack Disorders
Panic Disorder Attacks
An Anxiety Panic Attack can occur unexpectedly and anywhere you happen to be. While frightening, it is possible to stop panic attacks. There are a number of panic anxiety disorders. And each panic disorder differs slightly from the others.
If you are having symptoms of panic attacks, you might want to compare your symptoms to each of the panic disorders.
An Anxiety Panic Attack can be pretty intense and frightening.
Get help for panic anxiety attacks from an experienced therapist
Panic Anxiety Disorder
Scarey But Treatable!There are many anxiety panic disorders and some of them are known as phobias, while others have specific names. Here are a few different anxiety disorders that you may have seen or heard of: - Panic Attacks - An anxiety panic attack happens unexpectedly and out of the blue and, at you will have at least four of the following symptoms, for a period of 5 to 20 minutes.
- Racing heart
- Sweating
- Trembling
- Shortness of breath
- Feeling of choking
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Nausea or abdominal distress
- Feeling dizzy
- Feeling unreal or detached
- Tingling or numbness of the hands or feet
- Chills or hot flashes
- Fear of going crazy or losing control
- Fear of dying
- Agoraphobia - Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder where a person is fearful of being in a particular place or situation that is inescapable--and they feel panic. Some examples would be going to the movies, being in crowds, using public transportation. I have a friend who always sits in the closest seat to a door in a public place (like a theatre), and she always knows the location of every exit in a building.
People with agoraphobia tend to avoid situations where they feel panic or discomfort so that they won't experience the discomfort or distress. - Panic Disorder - You might have one isolated panic attack, but, if you keep having anxiety and panic attacks, you have a panic disorder.
When people have had anxiety panic attacks in certain situations they begin to fear having another panic attack when they are in a place or a situation. A person who has a panic disorder will try to avoid having a panic attack. To do so, he might change his routine or behaviors. He might avoid a specific place or stop doing a certain activity. Panic symptoms can be brought on by the use of substances, such as caffeine or marijuana. Specific Phobia - Phobias are fear of a situation or object--on steroids. In other words, the fear is out of proportion to the situation or circumstances. People with a specific phobia experience fear and they will avoid certain objects or situations. If you have avoided a specific circumstance for at least 6 months, then you may have a phobia. Specific phobias can include fear of dogs, fear of spiders, fear of clowns, fear of a thunder storm, fear of injections, fear of flying, fear of heights and fear of choking or vomiting. - Generallised anxiety disorder - When you have generallized anxiety disorder, you worry excessively about events like speaking in public, your performance at work, whether someone cares about you, your finances or the health and safety of your spouse or children.
Sometimes a person is diagnosed with this panic disorder after a traumatic event, and the disorder is temporary. Usually, in this case, a person is able to pull his life together and get back to normal. - Social Phobia - People with a social phobia are afraid of doing or saying the wrong thing--and being embarassed by their own behavior. In fact, they often avoid social situations, because they are so sure that this is a big problem for them.
A person with social phobia will be worried and frightened by situations that others don't think twice about. She might avoid filling out a form, ordering in a restaurant, speaking in a group, introducing herself, interviewing for a job, going on a date or even working out at the gym. - Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - If you have this panic anxiety disorder, you have obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are thoughts that you can't get rid of--they are persistent and they are caused by your anxiety or distress. Obsessions can be in the form of intrusive thoughts, mental images or impulsive behavior or thoughts.
Compulsions are actions that you can't stop doing. People with OCD have repetitive acts and excessive behavior while trying to reduce or get rid of the anxiety or obsessive thoughts. For example, a person with this anxiety disorder might continuously wash her hands, clean the bathroom four times a day or count the ceiling tiles in the doctor's waiting room while waiting to be seen by the physician. - Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - People with post-traumatic stress disorder have experienced intense fear, helplessness or horror during traumatic events--usually events where they or someone else was seriously hurt or killed. An example would be an experience during war combat.
Many people who experience a traumatic event naturally recover, but in some instances they develop PTSD. Physical abuse, sexual abuse, and combat exposure most often lead to PTSD than natural disasters or accidents. Symptoms of PTSD are re-experiencing symptoms of the event (going over and over the event in your mind), avoiding some situations, having difficulty sleeping, mood swings and over-reacting to sounds or situations.
If you are experiencing severe panic disorder symptoms, you probably should seek professional help. However, if your anxiety panic attack symptoms have not occurred regularly and they are mild, you may be able to get back to normal by using a good self-hypnosis program by an experienced therapist. Dr. Randy Gilchrist Psy.D. has written an excellent program that has helped many people with their anxiety. For more information on Dr. Gilchrist and his stress management program for anxiety and stress, go to
Managing Stress and Anxiety
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