Anxiety and panic attacks?

Anxiety has become a 21st Century epidemic that destroys people’s lives.

Reported levels have been steadily increasing since the end of World War II suggesting that anxiety disorders now constitutes the world’s most prevalent mental health problems. It’s a primitive response from when our ancestors had to be on constant alert, always ready to call upon their ‘fight or flight response’ for survival. We have all experienced moments when everything seemed to be crushing us and most of us quickly got over it.  Many people unfortunately remain locked in its terrifying grip. For them, anxiety strikes
unexpectedly and frequently. Sufferers imagine that things are overwhelming and beyond their control with debilitating results.
Anxiety manifests as fear, uncertainty, racing thoughts and avoidance of people, places or situations. It affects one’s ability to function normally and sufferers often feel they are losing their minds. It can lead to related psychological problems like substance abuse and personality difficulties.

Different kinds of anxiety disorders

Women are 60% more likely than men to experience anxiety disorder. About 8% of teenagers
experience anxiety disorder. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is its most common form. This is described as a constant state of
worry and anxiety that’s out of proportion to what’s actually going on in one’s life. Its symptoms include heart palpitations, “jelly legs,” hands and feet tingling, hyperventilation, dizziness, feeling sick, tension, headaches, hot flushes and shaking. Anxiety sufferers may think they’re going mad or losing control. They feel they might die, are going to be sick, that things are speeding up or slowing down, feeling detached from their environment and people and they want to escape. GAD sufferers tend to be unsure and lack confidence. They are often perfectionists, controlling and excessively conforming. Symptoms can include restlessness, on edge, excessive tiredness, difficulty
concentrating, irritability, muscle tension, and sleep disturbance.

Panic Disorder

Extreme anxiety includes panic disorder, characterized by terrifying episodes of high anxiety. This, the dreaded ‘panic attack’ can last from 15 to 30 minutes. Symptoms can accompany other kinds of anxiety disorder though attacks tend to be triggered by specific cues. Symptoms include terror, heart palpitations, sweating, disorientation, breathlessness, fear of dying and even the fear of going insane.

Classifications of Anxiety

The other four major classifications of anxiety include phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and separation anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorder sufferers tend to have their lives ruled by avoidance, subterfuge, ritualistic behaviour and self-medication. They are also at an increased suicide risk.

A panic attack is a sudden sense of intense fear, where the following characteristics, come on instantly or rapidly and usually peak within 10/15 minutes:

• Attacks usually least from 10 to 15 minutes or longer.
• Panic arracks occur suddenly, with reoccurrences from several per day to a few per
  year.
• Hyperventilation, shortness of breath, can’t breathe, chest pains, palpitations and a
  pounding heart.
• Trembling, shaking and sweating.
• Chest pain, nausea or abdominal distress and even nausea.
• Dizziness, light-headedness and even fainting.
• Feeling numb and detached from onesself.
• Fear of losing control and even fear of dying.

Panic disorder is a common problem which unfortunately often goes unrecognised and untreated. If untreated, it can lead to all kinds of problems.

Sufferers usually describe a history of recurrent or triggered panic. Attacks usually peak within 10 minutes but may persist for 20-30 minutes.
Triggers vary from no apparent triggers to obvious triggers.

• Those that occur without any obvious triggers.
• Predictable ones which occur follow anxiety-provoking situations.
• Those accompanied by a social phobia.
• Those that occur following exposure to an anxiety-provoking situation.

Panic attacks may be accompanied by other phobic type occurrences such as:

• Agoraphobia in about 26% of sufferers.
• Social phobia in about about 33% of sufferers.
• Mood disorders, particularly prevalent depression as high as 50-60%. It may be the
  singular cause of depression and when treated successfully the depression also
  disappears.

It is important to exclude organic or physical conditions which we do not treat that may induce anxiety or panic such as:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Chronic obstructive airways disease
• Migraine headaches
• Tension-type headache
• Irritable bowel syndrome

They are not panic attacks and while sometimes similar they are warning signals that may require medical intervention