Panic Disorder
Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety is a Future oriented State Characterized by negative effect in which a person Focus on the Possibility of Uncontrollable danger or misfortune; in contrast, fear is present-oriented state characterized by strong escapist tendencies and a surge in the sympathetic branch of the automatic nervous system in response to current danger.
A Panic attack represents the alarm response of real fear, but there is no actual danger.
Panic attacks maybe (1) Unexpected (without warning) or (2) Expected (always occurring in a specific situation). Panic and Anxiety combine to create different anxiety and related disorders. Several disorders are grouped under the heading Anxiety Disorders.
About Panic Disorder:
People with Panic disorders have had one or more panic attacks and are Anxious and Fearful about having future attacks. Panic attacks may occur frequently, perhaps once-weekly or more often; Usually last for minutes, rarely for hours; and are sometime linked to specific situations, such driving a car. In Panic disorder (PD), individuals experience severe, unexpected panic attacks; they may think they are dying or otherwise losing control.
SYMPTOMS
1. Labored breathing.
2. Heart palpitations.
3. Nausea.
4. Chest Pain.
5. Feeling of choking and smothering.
6. Dizziness.
7. Sweating.
8. Trembling.
9. Intense apprehension.
10. Terror.
11. Feelings of impending doom.
12. Depersonalization (a feeling of the being outside one's body).
13. De realization, (a feeling of the world not being real).
14. Fears of losing control.
15. Fears of going crazy.
16. Fear of dying.
CAUSES
Panic attacks and Panic disorder, however seem to be related most strongly to biological and psychological factors and their interaction.
Despite some intriguing suggestions, little evidence indicates that patients who have panic disorder experienced separation anxiety during childhood more often than individuals with other psychological disorders. Panic attacks can be expected, always occurring in a specific situation and unexpected, occurring without warning.
TREATMENT
Both drug and psychological treatments have proved successful in the treatment of panic disorder.
MEDICATION
A large number of drugs affecting the Noradrenergic, Serotonergic or Gaba-benzodiazepines neurotransmitter system, or some combination, seem effective in treating Panic Disorder, including high- potency benzodiazepines, the newer selective- serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as Proza C and Paxil, and the closely related serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) such as Venlafaxine. There are advantage and disadvantage to each class of drugs.
THERAPY
Panic Control therapy (PCT) concentrates on exposing patients with panic disorder to the cluster of interoceptive (physical) sensation that remind them of their Panic Attacks. The therapist attempts to create "mini" panic attacks to elevate their heart rates or perhaps by spinning them in chair to make them dizzy. Patients also receive Cognitive Therapy easic attitudes and perception concerning the dangerousness of the feared but objectively harmless situations are identified and modified.
These psychological procedures are highly effective for Panic Disorders.
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REFERENCE
David H. Barlow, BOSTON UNIVERSITY
V. Mark Durand, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA- ST. PETERSBERG
2. ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY: 9TH EDITION
Davision G.C., Neale, J.M. and Kring, A.M.
3. ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY
Allov. L.B.: Riskind, J.H. and Manos, M.J.
4. ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY AND MODERN LIFE. NY: Harper and Collins. 2000
Carson. R.C. and Butcher. N.J.