Today, this is the most personal post I have done to date. I have spoken about GAD and SAD in previous posts, but today I am writing about Panic Disorder.
Panic Disorder
I have suffered with some sort of panic disorder, yes fairly mildly but it is still there, for just over a year. I know that everyone feels anxious and panics in certain situations, which is perfectly normal, however for people like me- we can feel anxious and nervous at for what others deem to be perfectly normal situations. When you are in a situation that makes you uneasy, nervous, scared or anything like that: what do you do? Probably act in a rational way and just calm yourself down, yes? Well, for people with panic disorder, in situations like this it is near impossible to calm down. Instead, we will most likely experience a panic attack. And, I am just come out and say this:
PEOPLE WHO SAY THEY HAD A PANIC ATTACK WHEN THEY JUST SAW A SPIDER OR JUST KIND OF SAY IT AS A JOKE OR TO EXAGGERATE THEMSELVES- ARE THE PEOPLE I REALLY CAN'T STAND.
Because, I can tell you this for nothing, a panic attack is one of the scariest thing I have ever experienced. According to the NHS these are the most common symptoms when having a panic attack and I will highlight which ones I have experienced:
- palpitations, sensation of an irregular heartbeat
- sweating
- hot flushes
- trembling
- shaking
- chills
- dizziness
- dry mouth
- chest pain
- shortness of breath
- hyperventilation
- nausea
- feeling faint
- numbness or pins and needles
- need the toilet
- fear or dread
- churning stomach
- ringing ears
- tingling fingers
- shivering
In the majority of panic attacks I have experienced I have cried or felt extremely emotional. Now, when I say I have panic disorder, I haven't been diagnosed but I am guessing I do. I have panic attacks in situations where I feel too hot or too surrounded by heat. However, in situations where it easy to feel anxious for the everyday person, I am completely on edge and experience tiny bursts of these symptoms. Most panic attacks last for around 5-20 minutes. If you are in a very stressful situation, for yourself, and have experienced a panic attack- there is a possibility that you could experience a panic attack straight after a previous one- if that makes sense.
People with panic attacks can sometimes worry about having another one, therefore constantly living in fear. Luckily, I don't have this on-going fear, yet when in a stressful situation - I do tend to think 'I am going to have a panic attack,' or 'oh my god I am panicking,'. I am a generally anxious person and I so suffer with quite severe shyness, as explained in post on SAD.
Finally, once when I had a panic attack (my first ever one, and my worst one to date) my symptoms were so intense, I felt depersonalised. This means that you feel detached from the situation, your body and surroundings. It makes you feel like you aren't really there, the best way to describe it is as if you were a fish in a fish tank and having loads of people looking and staring at you. People may think it can make your panic attack feel less frightening, when in fact it made, me anyway, feel a whole lot worse and extremely disorientating.
The cause of panic disorder is not yet fully understood, but here are the most likely:
- traumatic life experiences, bereavement, abuse etc. can cause feelings of anxiety
- genetics, a family member suffers with PD (this is a theory)
- neurotransmitters, chemicals in the brain and perhaps an imbalance of these chemicals can cause the development of this condition
- increased CO2 sensitivity?
- catastrophic thinking, focusing on minor symptoms and interpreting them catastrophically
Again, the first course of action is CBT, where you will talk about what you experience during a panic attack, how you feel etc. The next step would be antidepressants of similar medications. I have explained this in other posts because treatment in near identical for most anxiety disorders. I do not feel that my anxiety is severe enough to get medical help just yet. I will do a post soon on my first attack and explain it in detail. I hope this 'series' has been helpful for you. And again, like my previous posts on this topic- all information is from nhs.uk so if you want any extra and more in depth advice go and check out that site.
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