Panic disorder

For someone with panic disorder, feelings of anxiety, stress and panic occur regularly and at any time. They often occur for no obvious reason.

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder where you regularly have sudden attacks of panic or fear.

Everyone experiences feelings of anxiety and panic at certain times. It’s a natural response to stressful or dangerous situations.

For someone with panic disorder, feelings of anxiety, stress and panic occur regularly and at any time. They often occur for no obvious reason.

Symptoms:

Anxiety

Anxiety is a feeling of unease. It can range from mild to severe and can include feelings of worry and fear.

You may start to avoid certain situations because you fear they’ll trigger another attack.

This can create a cycle of living “in fear of fear”. It can add to your sense of panic and may cause you to have more attacks.

Panic attacks

A panic attack is when your body experiences a rush of intense mental and physical sensations. It can come on very quickly and for no apparent reason.

A panic attack can be very frightening and distressing.

Symptoms include:

• a racing heartbeat
• feeling faint
• sweating, hot flushes
• nausea, a churning stomach
• chest pain, shortness of breath
• trembling, shaky limbs
• chills
• a choking sensation
• dizziness
• numbness or pins and needles, a tingling sensation in your fingers
• dry mouth
• a need to go to the toilet
• ringing in your ears
• a feeling of dread or a fear of dying
• feeling like you’re not connected to your body

Most panic attacks last for between 5 and 20 minutes. Some panic attacks have been reported to last up to an hour.

The number of attacks you have will depend on how severe your condition is. Some people have attacks once or twice a month, while others have them several times a week.

Although panic attacks are frightening, they’re not dangerous. An attack won’t cause you any physical harm. It’s unlikely that you’ll be admitted to hospital if you have one.

Be aware that most of these symptoms can also be symptoms of other conditions or problems. You may not always be experiencing a panic attack. For example, you may have a racing heartbeat if you have very low blood pressure.

(Reference: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/mental-health/panic-disorder.html)

DSM-IV diagnostic criteria^9,100

A. Both (1) and (2):

1. Recurrent unexpected panic attacks.
2. At least one of the attacks has been followed by 1 month (or more) of one (or more) of the following:
3. Persistent concern about having additional attacks.
4. Worry about the implications of the attack or its consequences (e.g. losing control, having a heart attack, ‘going crazy’).
5. A significant change in behaviour related to the attacks.

B. Absence of agoraphobia/presence of agoraphobia.

C. The panic attacks are not caused by the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g. a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition (e.g. hyperthyroidism).

D. The panic attacks are not better accounted for by another mental disorder, such as social phobia (e.g. occurring on exposure to feared social situations), specific phobia (e.g. exposure to a specific phobic situation), OCD (e.g. on exposure to dirt in someone with an obsession about contamination), PTSD (e.g. in response to stimuli associated with a severe stressor) or separation anxiety disorder (e.g. in response to being away from home or close relatives).