Living with Panic Disorder
Living with Panic Disorder
People diagnosed with panic disorder may live a very scary life – having completely random panic attacks and being terrified of their return. Panic attacks are unexpected and may not have any reasoning behind them. They may occur during the day, night and even whenever someone wakes up from sleep. Although typically diagnosed after age 20, panic disorder can affect children, causing them to have panic-like symptoms or, fearful spells (Panic Attacks, 2017).
As reported by the U.S. Department of Health (2016), around 2-3% of Americans are diagnosed with panic disorder each year with twice as many women affected than men. The ailment can cause people to miss work, struggle with everyday life, and completely avoid normal situations that they believe may lead to an attack, such as driving. Often, people are fearful of leaving their homes, developing a disorder known as agoraphobia.
Symptoms
A panic attack is an intense wave of fear that reaches a peak within a few minutes. At least four of the following symptoms are typically present (Symptoms, 2017):
Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate
Sweating
Trembling or shaking
Sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
Feelings of choking
Chest pain or discomfort
Nausea or abdominal distress
Feeling dizzy, unsteady, light-headed, or faint
Chills or heat sensations
Paresthesia (numbness or tingling sensations)
Derealization (feelings of unreality) or depersonalization (being detached from oneself) Listen to this podcast.
Fear of losing control or going crazy
Fear of dying
Treatment
People with panic disorder often fail to realize that their condition is real and quite receptive to treatment. A victim of the ailment may feel afraid to express their symptoms or embarrassed to admit their feelings to their family, friends, and health professionals for fear of being labeled as insane. Therefore, patients suffer on their own, distancing themselves from help and support. Cognitive behavioral therapy is considered the most helpful treatment for panic disorder, agoraphobia, and panic attacks. Specialists aim to guide a patients thinking patterns and attitudes about the disorder. A common goal of therapy is to see the fear of a panic attack in a realistic point of view. An example of this may be to think of what would realistically happen if a person had a panic attack behind the wheel. The person may be afraid, but should be able to pull over and breathe, giving themselves enough time to regain calmness before continuing their drive (Stefan, 2016).
Another common cognitive therapy used to dampen the effects of a panic attack is called exposure therapy. During this treatment, the patient is asked to simulate the experience of a panic attack in a controlled setting. For instance, they may be asked to breathe quickly, shake their head, or not breathe at all, in an attempt to cause feelings comparable to an attack. The procedure is then repeated to diminish the intensity felt internally while panic ensures. Patients who experience exposure therapy find that it helps them control their panic attacks.
Many medical practitioners recognize that while medication will not treat or cure panic disorder, it may be used to reduce the intensity of symptoms and allow patients to temporarily control their condition. Therefore, medication is saved for severe cases of the disorder and is most effective when combined with cognitive therapy or other treatments that address the causes of panic disorder.
Self-Help Tips for Panic Attacks
While professional assistance and cognitive therapy can be beneficial in treating panic disorder, there are several ways you can help manage your symptoms:
Education. Learning about panic disorder, symptoms, and treatment is a great first step to relieving stress caused by the illness.
Avoid smoking, alcohol, and caffeine. Substance use of many kinds can aggravate the conditions of people who struggle with panic disorder. They have been known to cause panic attacks, feelings of helplessness, and raise fear.
Learn how to control your breathing. During a panic attack, it is common to hyperventilate which can cause the body to feel lightheaded or tightness in the chest area. If you can focus on breathing properly, you can relieve these feelings. Learning to control breathing is also beneficial as a calming technique.
Take the time to relax. Activities such as meditation and yoga can be very helpful when controlling stress and anxiety, leading causes of panic attacks.
Spend time with people who matter to you. Stress and anxiety can be extremely powerful when someone feels alone. Therefore, it is beneficial to reach out to loved ones often and build supportive relationships with people.
Exercise regularly to relieve stress and anxiety.
Get enough restful sleep as not to aggravate emotions during the day.
When Someone Is Having a Panic Attack
Below are tips for you or your loved one to consider during a panic attack:
A panic attack cannot last forever. It comes to a peak and then anxiety has to decrease. It is physiologically impossible to peak forever. Once youve gone to the highest point of your anxiety, the only place to go from there is down. A panic attack is uncomfortable, but please remember that it will fade away.
Emotions are like a wave, they will come and go.
These feelings have happened before, and you have survived each time. Take a deep breath, you can do this.
Avoiding treatment or the cause of anxiety is detrimental. Avoidance now will mean sustained anxiety in the future.
Read More Here:
Panic Attacks. (2017). Retrieved January 07, 2018, from https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/panic-attacks/
Stefan G. Hofmann, Ph.D. Consulting Editor, Hay, P. A., & Barthel, B. A. (2017, December 13). Panic Attacks And Anxiety Attacks: Panic Disorder Treatment. Retrieved January 07, 2018, from https://www.anxiety.org/panic-disorder-panic-attacks
Symptoms. (2017). Retrieved January 07, 2018, from https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/panic-disorder-agoraphobia/symptoms
U.S. Department of Health. (2016). Panic Disorder: When Fear Overwhelms. Retrieved January 07, 2018, from https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/panic-disorder-when-fear-overwhelms/index.shtml
Thank you for learning about panic disorder. Now that weve covered the basics, lets have a discussion on this topic.
Have you ever experienced the symptoms of panic disorder? If so, please share your experience with us.
If yes, what was your support system like at that time? How did they help you handle your symptoms?
Have you ever witnessed a loved one going through the symptoms of Panic Disorder? If yes, how did you support them?
Since we have learned about the disorder, how will you help yourself or someone you love if you/they are having symptoms in the future?
@AlluraRae
Thank you very much for this! It's veryn informative and it's wonderful to have the resources to learn more
Have you ever experienced the symptoms of panic disorder? If so, please share your experience with us.
Yes, I have, many times. I haven't been officially diagnosed, but I do have panic attacks. They're incredibly frightening. I get almost all of the symptoms stated, except for the fear of dying. Probably because I don't fear dying. They come at random times, they have nothing to do with the situation usually.
If yes, what was your support system like at that time? How did they help you handle your symptoms?
I had a very good friend help me a little, other than that, I didn't tell anyone so I had no support.
Have you ever witnessed a loved one going through the symptoms of Panic Disorder? If yes, how did you support them?
Yes, my very close friend has panic attacks. It's awful to watch. She's the type of person who needs space so I sat with her for a little while, just reassuring her that she'll be okay, and then I just gave her some space.
Since we have learned about the disorder, how will you help yourself or someone you love if you/they are having symptoms in the future?
I will do my best to breathe rather than get taken away by the panic and just dissolve.
Great, I just finished my honors project too
@AlluraRae
Have you ever experienced the symptoms of panic disorder? If so, please share your experience with us.
I've been dealing with anxiety and anxiety attacks since I was a child but didn't get a diagnosis until I was about 15 or 16. Before that I didn't know what was wrong. I'd constantly go to the nurse in elementary school and try to get her to understand that I felt sick. Since I didn't have a fever I was dismissed as faking. It wasn't until I was older and had a diagnosis that I realized the symptoms I was feeling then were identical to the physical symptoms I feel when I'm anxious. Panic attacks pretty much ruled my teenage years and I had to drop out of high school to do home-schooling. The isolation of home-schooling inadvertently led to agoraphobia. I conquered the agoraphobia by 19 or 20. Anxiety never really stopped affecting my life but with medication and therapy I was able to not have anxiety attacks on a regular basis. Last year felt like a nightmare coming true. The panic attacks were back, sometimes without any discernible trigger. After an especially bad panic attack at my psychiatrist's office in October I pretty much just stopped going out for fear of repeating the episode. So then the agoraphobia came back too. I've only recently tried to start putting my life back together again and it's hard and scary and sometimes feels impossible but I know it's the best thing I can do for myself.
If yes, what was your support system like at that time? How did they help you handle your symptoms?
I live with my parents and grandmother which may seem like a weird arrangement for a 28 year old but I prefer it at the moment. Along with my psychiatrist, they are my main support system and I could not ask for better support. Anxiety runs in my family so when they support me they're supporting me from a place of understanding. They know what it feels like. They make sure I know I'm never alone. That's priceless.
Have you ever witnessed a loved one going through the symptoms of Panic Disorder? If yes, how did you support them?
Not often but it has happened occasionally. I try to support them by letting them know I'm there for them and kind of letting them set the tone in terms of what they need because everyone's different. Some people want company during a panic attack and others want space. I think the universal thing is just that most people like to know there's someone there for them if they need them.
Since we have learned about the disorder, how will you help yourself or someone you love if you/they are having symptoms in the future?
I plan on continuing to meditate. I plan on paying attention to my breathing and making sure to slow it if it becomes too rapid. I want to go back to therapy but I really can't see myself doing it right now due to the agoraphobia. That's been frustrating for me but I'm hoping I reach a point where I eventually can.
@AlluraRae
Here's the direct link to 7cups guided recording designed for Panic Assistance which can be repeated while not in the midst of panic just as practice or can help while in mid panic if one remembers and has access to it when an attack happens: https://www.7cups.com/exercises/mindfulness560/
Have you ever experienced the symptoms of panic disorder? If so, please share your experience with us.
Yes, I used to get very bad panic attacks when I was around 11 or 12, but these days they've never been as severe as they used to be. I do get anxiety attacks from time to time, but those tend to last for days and the symptoms and feelings are not as dramatic/urgent/frightening as a panic attack.
If yes, what was your support system like at that time? How did they help you handle your symptoms?
I've heard several people with this disorder say they do not like being touched when they're having a panic attack, but that's actually one thing that I find necessary from other people who want to help me personally. A touch on the shoulder, a hug, etc. Something that makes me feel grounded, because oftentimes when I've had anxiety/panic attacks, I feel like I'm going to just...I dunno lift off the ground and float away. I also like reassuring voices, or an offer of distraction, the person leading me to do some random activity to get my mind off the anxiety. Things like that.
Have you ever witnessed a loved one going through the symptoms of Panic Disorder? If yes, how did you support them?
Nobody else in my family or friends has this disorder.
Hello I just found 7cups at the weekend when I was in a desperate situation. I have just been diagnosed with panic disorder and anxiety which started because I am recovering from pneumonia and bronchitis and was struggling to breathe. I was taken to hospital a month ago I thought I was having a heart attack or a stroke I thought I was about to die. This weekend at home (I moved abroad six months ago and feel very isolated) and I started panicking in my bed at 2.30am Saturday. I had same feelings again. It
How do I find this thread again so I can communicate please? I
Thank you for sharing this!
Have you ever experienced the symptoms of panic disorder? If so, please share your experience with us. Yes.
I get many of my panic attacks at night.
I get nightmares, breathing problem, gasping, choking, heart racing, it feels like have chest pain, pressure, I feel like I cannot move. I lose all control but my twisted thoughts.
My ex step mom voice has caused me be floored in a panic attack. She used to blackmail me and threaten thing to my father who had a bad temper.
If yes, what was your support system like at that time? How did they help you handle your symptoms?
My younger brother chewed out his own mother and held me. It kills me to realize he is not talking to me. My newer step mother push paxil on me which gave me dark thoughts. Then pushed my father's side away from me.
Have you ever witnessed a loved one going through the symptoms of Panic Disorder? If yes, how did you support them? No.
Since we have learned about the disorder, how will you help yourself or someone you love if you/they are having symptoms in the future
You need to breath, calm down, and talk yourself out.
It doesn't help when your MD/PCP calls 911 and has 2 police officers arrive at your door without him calling your therapist or your pysc dr for their input.
