What is a Panic Attack Disorder?

A panic attack disorder is a disorder that involves sudden surges of fear, often overwhelming surges. The difference between a simple attack and a full-on panic attack disorder is the length of time the symptoms persist and the gravity of the symptoms. Essentially, a panic attack disorder disrupts your life and causes you to completely revamp the way in which you go about your daily work, home life, and social life.

A panic disorder is a fairly common condition, however. Generally without warning the symptoms arrive and cause the sufferer to feel fearful, nervous, and frightened without reason. These episodes can last minutes, sometimes even hours, and can be very disabling to most people as they essentially can freeze a person like a “deer in the headlights”. Being paralysed by fear is a very real notion to those that suffer with panic attacks on a regular basis.

The Cause

The cause for a panic attack is not usually obvious, but it is something that is generally “normal” as a part of a regular stressful modern life. The development of a panic attack disorder is usually associated with a lack of proper coping skills more than it is a brain function or a biological illness as the idea behind panic is a poor management of stressful situations.

Mental health professionals often prescribe a variety of types of therapy. These include colour therapy and hypnosis but in general result in a discussion of the fears or anxiety triggers to comprise a proper coping plan that will ease the effects of the stressors. However, in some of the more serious cases various medications can also be prescribed to aide in the balancing of brain chemicals that the stress and the poor reactions to it may have unbalanced.

Symptoms

Panic attacks usually come with a set of symptoms that include: shaking, trembling, heart palpitations, sweating, chest pains, shortness of breath, choking or feeling like you may be choking, nausea, dizziness, cramping, tingling, numbness, chills, hot flashes, and even “out of body” experiences or feelings related to that experience. There are other symptoms as well, but many of these are dependent on the individual panic attack sufferer.

Once again, the difference between a panic attack and a panic attack disorder is the frequency and the overall gravity of the anxiety and the symptoms. Many of those with an attack disorder seek counselling and are prescribed medication as well to combat the effects of the symptoms. As anyone with a panic disorder will tell you, anxiety can be very crippling and without professional medical help can cause serious problems.

Effect of Panic Disorders in Pregnancy

The effect of panic disorders in pregnancy is still being studied from two vantage points. Some women have panic disorder before getting pregnant and some develop it after getting pregnant or during post partum. In the first case, the impact of pregnancy on the panic disorder is studied. In the second case, the influence of the pregnancy in the development of panic disorder is studied. Approximately 6% of pregnant women don’t develop panic disorder until the post partum period.

Stress can result from both positive and negative events in our life. Changing jobs can be positive, but it’s still high on the list of stress producing activities. Getting pregnant is normally a positive and joyous experience, yet it’s also probably the most life altering activity you’ll ever experience. This can create a lot of tension and stress which manifest themselves through panic attacks.

The effects of panic disorders in pregnancy may include an increase in the physical panic reactions. They can also include a heightened sense of loss of control or loss of self-esteem. All of this occurs during a time when self-esteem should be at a high level due to impending motherhood.

During the late stages of pregnancy, the brain produces more serotonin. This is the chemical which the body produces during times of fear or worry. With the increase in serotonin, the panic attacks may increase in severity. The effect of panic disorders in pregnancy can include a direct impact on the woman’s ability to cope with family during pregnancy and the birth of the baby. It’s no secret that having a baby is very stressful, and for someone who already experiences panic attacks the additional stress can generate more severe attacks.

It’s important for a women to understand the effects of panic disorders in pregnancy. A woman experiencing panic attacks when the body is already under extreme stress due to the physical demands of pregnancy, can find herself unable to cope. These women often decide they can’t be trusted to make good decisions, get more tired due to the effort to maintain control and develop self doubts about abilities to be good mothers.

The physical effects of panic disorders in pregnancy are very similar to the effects in everyone else experiencing panic attacks. For example, there may be shortness of breath, racing heartbeats, hot flashes and dizziness. But there are also psychological effects which include fear of losing control, fear of dying and fear of inadequacy.

Any pregnant woman experiencing panic attacks should talk to her doctor. Sometimes a mild medication is prescribed if the panic attacks are severe enough. The effects of panic disorders in pregnancy can be debilitating and should not be left untreated. But you can also take responsibility for your own treatment plan also in order to reduce anxiety. Relaxation techniques such as meditation and yoga are particularly suitable for pregnant women to do. In addition, the woman can learn to change thinking patterns from negative to positive, and reduce the distorted thinking that lowers self-esteem.

Anxiety Disorder

One of the underlying causes of anxiety disorder is low self-esteem. Self-esteem is how you feel and think about yourself as opposed to how you view others. Self-esteem is the perception you have of yourself and your abilities. It’s unfortunate that many people don’t understand their true value as a human being and their real potential or capabilities. In a nutshell, anxiety and fear holds them back from appreciating themselves.

Unrelenting anxiety can cause damage in so many ways. It can stop you from attempting things you want to try. It can make you feel as is life holds promise for others but not you. Anxiety can make you fearful to take advantage of your talents. It can also cause you to have mistaken beliefs about the world and interpersonal relationships.

One of the treatments for anxiety disorder focuses on improving self-esteem and correcting mistaken beliefs that create worry and distress on an ongoing basis. This is a form of cognitive therapy that helps a person learn how to change their thoughts and view of themselves. It’s about changing attitudes. Believing you can fulfill your personal dreams may sound a bit trite on the surface, but it’s essential for a normal and healthy psyche.

Anxiety disorder can be treated through a self-help program that teaches you how to change your attitude about your capabilities for achievement. When you view the world as something that serves to prevent you from succeeding, then that’s precisely what it will do. If you view the world as a place that enables you to fulfill your dreams and display your capabilities, then the possibilities are endless.

Enhancing self-esteem is a common technique used to treat anxiety disorder because much anxiety comes from worrying about non-existent problems. It’s called the “what-if” syndrome. You can worry about what will happen if you attempt to meet new people, change jobs or become assertive. Or you can have faith in your ability to cope with change and other people’s reactions. It’s easy to see there is much more peace in life when you have confidence in your coping abilities.

Techniques to deal with anxiety disorder through self-esteem building include the following.

• Learn positive self-talk
• Learn to make decisions to the best of your ability
• Learn that you don’t always have to please others before yourself
• Learn you are never powerless
• Learn to make decisions that take your own well-being into account
• Learn you have abilities and talents
• Learn how to express your feelings and needs

In other words, you learn how to reduce or eliminate all the unnecessary worries in your life leading to anxiety disorder. Though this treatment may seem a bit vague to some people, the truth is that many anxiety disorders exist because of lack of self-esteem. Medication cannot restore self-esteem, but other behavioral and cognitive therapies are able to help you discover your self worth.

Panic Related Disorders

Almost everyone will experience some sort of stress and period when they feel anxious. These periods of stress and anxiety is usually caused by a trigger that can be identified. The panic disorders are slightly different and these can be distinguished by the fact that they actually seem to happen for no apparent reason and therefore most of the time they happen very un-expectantly. Some people joke that they have had a panic attack however people that suffer from panic attacks will definitely know when they have had one as they can sometimes be very severe. The panic attacks can last any length of time ranging from a minute to even several hours.

It is very important to understand that anxiety is a very normal reaction to what people physically see or what they feel a threat from. In normal occasions of anxiety the anxiety will disappear when the threat disappears and the cause is no longer a worry. In the situation of the panic disorders there is no real cause that affects the person and therefore there is nothing that can be eliminated in order to ease the stress. This also means that the panic can occur when it is least expected and there is no way in, which it can be resolved.

There are a lot of physical symptoms that can be defined as a panic attack. Some people may have trouble breathing or they may feel there heart starting to race uncontrollably. Some people may start sweating, feeling dizzy, feeling sick or some people may even experience chest pains. In a lot of the occasions of panic attacks they suffer may feel like they are being smothered. The panic disorders are often diagnosed once someone hs suffered the symptoms more than a couple of times as this will make you worry more that the attack is going to actually happen again.

The disorders that are caused by panicking are very often not caused by any specific activity or thing. It is on these occasions that people often use the terminology in completely the wrong context. Some people suffer from a fear of driving on motorways and they tend to panic in anticipation of having to do so, in these cases you are probably suffering from a phobia or an anxiety disorder. The panic disorders happen for no apparent reason or event and the true panic disorders are not due to medication, events or physical illness. These are very difficult to treat, as there is no known feature that can be removed in order to eliminate the panic disorder.

The panic disorders often display no regular symptoms either. There are some people that suffer from panic attacks once a year however there are other people that suffer from panic attacks on a weekly basis. The worst thing that people can do is to avoid dealing with things, as they are worried about having another panic attack. It is a good idea to have get some advice and guidance from a doctor in order to be able to rule out physical reasons of why you may experience a racing heart or shortness of breath. If the doctor gives you a clean bill of health then you will know that the chances that it is probably caused by panic attacks.

There is a vast range of treatments that can be used for panic disorders. These treatments include learning to relax, learning how to control your physical reactions and learning how to control your though process. Once you have learnt how to take control of your mind and your body it is possible to learn how to cope with the panic attacks in such a way so that you are not frightened or experiencing any sort of trauma. There are some people that are able to use a combination of counselling, exercise and a high level of awareness to eliminate the attacks that are caused by panicking. Some of the panic disorders are not actually related to any specific cause or event so it is therefore very important to learn how to cope with anxiety as soon as it starts as it is not possible to judge when it is going to happen.

Anxiety Disorders and Panic Disorders

The disorders that are related to anxiety and panic are often seen as a thing that is up to no good. Anxiety is a state of emotions and it can be expressed as an impact of the body. Some of these disorders have a reason and others happen for no apparent reason however the end result is the same. Some of these disorders result in panic attacks and this is when it is classed as a disorder. Panic disorders can be diagnosed as being when the feeling of anxiety or the panic attacks tend to last for a long time and happens frequently in some occasions these panic attacks can also cause you to be unable to live a normal life as you are constantly worrying about when you are going to have the next fit.

There are a lot of ways in which these can be treatment and one of these ways is by learning what is causing the problem in the first place and then finding ways in which to reduce or eliminate it. By eliminating the cause of the anxiety or panic you will be able to reduce the number of attacks. One you are able to do this then you will be able to control the anxiety and the situations that cause he panic attacks in the first place.

It is a general accepted thing that once you find a way to deal with the levels of anxiety and panic disorders then you are able to control yourself when you start to panic or feel anxious. In situation where you feel that you are starting to panic or that you are feeling anxious then you should start to think positively as this will enable you to keep it under control. It is very important to remind yourself that the panic attacks will not physically harm you and they will eventually subside just some will fade faster than others. When you feel that you are going to have a panic attack it is very important to relax and do some deep breathing as this will enable you to relax you body and your mind. If you become more stressed and tense during an anxiety attack you are more likely to prolong the attack and make the attack even more severe,

The different ways in which anxiety and panic disorders can be treated mainly focus on two things. The first thing that you will want to learn is how to prevent a panic attack in the first place. The second thing that you will want to learn is how to minimise the attack when they do occur. It is important to remember that whatever you do have a panic attack do not try to resist it as studies have shown that this will only actually make them worse, therefore it is best to accept that it is happening and take control of the situation.

Once you have learnt and mastered the art of taking control of your thoughts then it will be possible to control your thoughts and the take control of the situations that you tend to start feeling anxious during and this will enable you to feel more in control. At the end of the day dealing with anxiety and panic disorders comes down to more of an issue of control. It is also possible to make changes to your lifestyle that will enable you to reduce the amount of stress that is within your life. It is a good idea to learn how to be assertive, as this will prevent you from worrying at every opportunity and have control of your life. It is also a very good idea to learn how to control your thoughts and also how to improve your self-esteem.

Once you learn how to cope with panic disorders and anxiety it is a lot easier to get on with life without worrying. Anxiety can have a severe impact on people’s life and it can result in a wide range of ongoing fears. Once you feel that you are able to cope with the level of anxiety and panic by using a range of techniques it becomes a lot easier to relax and to deal with the panic attacks when they do actually happen.