What is Panic Disorder?
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Panic attacks are unexpected, overwhelming waves of the emotional and physical manifestations of anxiety: a tight chest, an upset stomach, and paralyzing fear. People feel their chests pound and their breath shorten. Sensations of doom and dying race through their minds. All of this terror comes on rapidly, without warning, and climaxes in 10-20 minutes.
When panic strikes, it can be so immediately disabling that unknowing bystanders may suspect the sufferer is choking or having heart trouble. These sensations so closely mimic medical emergencies that they lead many people to the emergency room. In fact, almost a third of people coming to the emergency room with non-heart trouble chest pain actually have Panic Disorder. Outward signs are relatively nonspecific. The person may appear to have an activated ‘fight-or-flight’ response, like increased general tension, cold, sweaty skin, and rapid breathing. If these people have had panic attacks before, they may feel one coming and quickly find an excuse to leave a public situation. As Panic Disorder progresses, friends and family are left in the dark as the person tries seclusion in order to avoid the possibility of a public panic attack.
Left untreated, Panic Disorder varies in intensity, and panic attacks can be separated by mere hours or up to several weeks. Though a small number of people develop Panic Disorder during childhood and adolescence, it most often begins in the early 20s. However, in retrospect, people with Panic Disorder often report having suffered panic-like episodes in childhood that were not full-on panic attacks. For most patients, Panic Disorder is at its worst in the middle 30s and gradually subsides in intensity by age 50.