Panic Disorder Essay Research Paper Panic DisorderThe

Panic Disorder Essay, Research Paper

Panic Disorder

The defining characteristics of panic disorder as given by the American Psychiatric Association consist of the following four criterions:

The person has experienced repeated unexpected episodes of panic attacks.

At least one of these panic attacks must have been followed by persistent worries lasting approximately a month or more regarding the fear of the consequences of the attack, or a specific change in the person’s lifestyle due to the experience.

During the attacks the minimum of four of the following sensations or symptoms must be experienced:

shortness of breath

nausea

dizziness

faintness

trembling or shaking

increased heart rate

sweating

choking

chills

hot flushes

numbness

chest pain or discomfort

feeling that the surroundings are not quite real

fear of going crazy

fear of dying

Drugs or a medical condition must not have induced these attacks.

The American Psychiatric Association first officially recognized panic disorder with the publication of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd edition) in 1980.The mental handicap of panic disorder afflicts roughly 1 of 75 people worldwide at any point during their lives. Panic attacks experienced by those with panic disorder last approximately 10 minutes.

Panic attacks are a result of anxiety or fear and subsequent attacks may be induced by the fear of panicking itself. This fear is conducive to bringing about increases the person’s fear of undergoing an attack. Afterwards, the victim may escape the situation thus allowing decreasing the sense of fear thus begins the process of depleting panic attack symptoms they had experienced. This process is labeled by some as the panic attack spiral.

Due to the fact that people who are plagued by panic disorder tend to associate the cause of their illness with a specific place or situation the first attack had occurred in, some may develop agoraphobia. They feel as though they may lose control of their bodies accompanied by an intense fear of a panic attack occurring. Some may discontinue their use of public transportation, or going to shop at the supermarket. It may progress to a point where they can no longer leave their homes. They tend to avoid situations or places in which they feel a panic attack may reoccur.

As shown in the panic spiral diagram, those who suffer from panic attacks feel the urge to escape the situation in which they had experienced the first panic attack because they feel being in the same or similar situation may induce another attack. In this manner the victim may began avoiding situations identical or similar to the place of the first attack. In this manner the victims may develop agoraphobia as a by-product of suffering from panic disorder.

For approximately one-third of cases reported, the initial attack had taken place in a public environment, one-third in their own homes, and approximately a quarter had taken place in a car. Generally, there is a link between the first panic attack and a source of major stress the person may have been bearing the burden of at the time of the attack. However, many at first are under the misconception that they are suffering from a medical condition. For example those who feel chest discomfort during these attacks may believe they are having a heart attack or other similar medical condition. Then when it is confirmed they have no such medical condition, yet they continue to have attacks, soon thereafter they feel as though it is beyond their control.

Subsequent attacks are often situational panic attacks, this is a type of attack induced by a form of perceived external threat to the victim such as being in a situation in which an attack had previously occurred. Anticipation of such an attack may also lead to another episode of panic attack because it increases the person’s level of anxiety.

There are also nocturnal panic attacks which occasionally effects the victim during their sleep. Then person usually awakens to a panic attack. These attacks posses the same symptoms as daytime attacks, however nocturnal attacks on average last approximately 25 minutes as opposed to the average of 10 minutes for daytime attacks. Nocturnal attacks do not seem to have a correlation to bad dreams or nightmares, and during these attacks the victims are conscious and responsive and if need be are able to recall the experience.

Several cases have been reported of relaxation-induced panic attacks. It is possible that while they are attempting to relax they are focusing on specific bodily sensations. There are those who believe that being in a state of relaxation debilitates normal blocks to thoughts which make the victim anxious. These cases are thought to be brought on by the fear of losing control. Such as being unable to take certain medications of relaxation for fear of being unable to control oneself as in the case of Ann in case study A who refused the offered general anesthetic and instead wished to have a local anesthetic for her biopsy. She had the fear of, just letting go”.

The most perplexing and hardest to explain of all types of panic attacks are those which are unexpected. For lack of a b

Внимание, отключите Adblock

Вы посетили наш сайт со включенным блокировщиком рекламы!
Ссылка для скачивания станет доступной сразу после отключения Adblock!

Скачать