Panic Attack Disorder. What Is It?
Panic disorder refers to a circumstance during which the sufferers go through a short period of intense fear mostly without any apparent causes for this fear. It is also known as panic attack. For many people an panic attack may be a once in a lifetime problem, while for others it can be a lifelong difficulty, attributing as an panic attack disorder. If someone is having anxiety attack at least twice a month, it implies that the individual is suffering from panic attack disorder. In its severe form, panic attack disorder can be life-threatening and disabling too.
Common Causes
Despite their distinctive features, all panic attack disorders share one common aspect, which is persistency characterized by overwhelming feeling of fear, anxiety and panic. The frequency and intensity of these fears lead an individual to experience immobilization, distress and disruption. The most common features of an panic attack disorder may involve an unrelenting and all-consuming form of anxiety, self-imposed isolation, emotional withdrawal, and maladaptive interaction with normal daily activities. In addition, panic and anxiety promotes lower self-esteem, depression, and even alcoholism.
Causes and Risk Factors
There is a wide number of causes that can contribute to the development of panic attack disorder in an individual. These factors may include environment, personality, family relations, brain chemicals and genetic makeup. In addition, major life stressors like marital problems or sudden death of a close one may intensify the risk. Environmental factors like financial catastrophe, early detachment from mother, critical parents play significant role in developing anxiety attack disorder. People with weaker personality traits develop anxiety attack disorder since they find themselves weak against the world and a powerful and threatening space.
The malfunction of certain neurotransmitters like serotonin, GABA and epinephrine may also lead to the development of panic disorder. Heredity plays one of the leading roles in developing such complications. A family history with mood disorder, depression, anxiety disorder or substance abuse may heighten the risk. Some people are genetically vulnerable to stress, quite obviously they are increasingly susceptible to anxiety attack disorder. A traumatic experience may also fabricate the condition. In fact, different researches show there is a strong correlation between anxiety disorder and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Common Treatment Options
A combination of breathing exercises, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and medication is successfully used in treating panic disorder. Learning to control ones breathing, the person is able to learn how to breathe using abdomen but not the chest. In fact, people with panic and anxiety exacerbate the condition with chest breathing. CBT helps in restructuring the maladaptive thinking pattern by integrating components of cognition and behavior. Anti-anxiety drugs, beta-blockers and antidepressants are commonly known drugs used for alleviating the short-term to severe symptoms of anxiety and panic disorders.
