Panic Disorder And Anxiety Attacks: A Differentiation

More often than not, medical cases are usually related. There are times when a repetition, relapse, or uncured problem or illness leads to a greater problem, such as bulimia is often associated with anorexia. Such is the case with panic disorder and anxiety attacks.

The former is seen in recurrent episodes of the latter. Anxiety attacks are also known as a panic attack. These are described as periods of extreme unease with symptoms that could be classified as physical or mental. These may be unprovoked and out of the blue or may have obvious causes or stimulus. These could last for at least 30 minutes. An abrupt onset may only last for 15 seconds and may continue and reach its peak at 10 minutes.

While the symptoms may vary from one person to another, a person who experiences this for the first time may feel like he or she is having a heart attack and may call emergency services. Nervous breakdowns are also confused with this.  

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It is diagnosed using the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for a panic attack, which describes it as a period of intense terror with four or more symptoms abruptly developing and reaching its peak at 10 minutes.

There are 13 symptoms all in all in this criterion. The symptoms are as follows: palpitations or increased heart rate; sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, choking, chest pain, abdominal discomfort, feeling lightheaded, feeling unattached to reality, fear of losing control, fear of death, numbness, and chills.

A recurrence of these episodes, often with significant behavioral changes within a month and with constant worry about having a repeated attack, could be considered for having a panic disorder. People who develop this for the first time are between the ages 25 to 30. Young adults who have developed this problem before the age of 24 are those who were usually subjected to a trauma early in life.

It was also found that women are more vulnerable to develop this than men. Studies show that this problem is mostly connected with smoking, alcohol, and other sedatives, though there are still other causes such as stressful events in one’s life.

This is diagnosed using the DSM-IV-TR criteria. In this criterion, there are four conditions that should be fulfilled. In the first, a person should have frequent and sudden episodes and at least one attack has been followed by any of the following for one month: concern about having other attacks, the implications of the attacks, or behavioral change related to the attacks.

The next condition considers the presence, or absence thereof, of agoraphobia, which is the fear of doing something embarrassing. The third states that the attack is not a direct effect of any substance or medical condition. And lastly, the problem is not better described or connected to another mental disorder such as: a phobia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or separation anxiety disorder.

As panic disorder and anxiety attacks are related to each other, the treatments for both are virtually the same: medications and psychotherapy. But while there are these treatments, proper care and support to the person is needed to help them cope and overcome this problem.

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