Panic Attacks

What Is It Like To Have A Panic Attack?

Try to explain to a man what being pregnant is like! Unless you have been there, it is difficult to understand. The person feels overwhelmed with terror, as the body reacts with symptoms such as heart palpitations, chest pain, breathing difficulties, shaking, sweating, nausea, faintness, numbness, and weakness. Often, the individual fears that he or she is having a heart attack, going "crazy" or "losing control".
Other symptoms might include:

• Sensation of choking
• Fear of dying
• Chills
• Diarrhea
• Overwhelming sense of dread

It is not unusual for a person experiencing a panic attack to have five or more of these symptoms occur at the same time. Because these symptoms are feel so "real", the person in the midst of an attack often has diffculty deciphering that it IS a panic attack, and not a real threat or medical condition. Others are able to recognize the attack for what it is...and just try to *ride it out*.

Over a period of time these feelings can burden the body until insomnia, lack of concentration, pain, and other problems result. Too often people think the way to handle anxiety is to deny it, fight it, conquer it, or drug it. A more successful approach is to bring its source to the surface, look at it, understand it, and do something about it. Anxiety disorders occur when people turn their emotions inward.

An individual panic attack can be triggered by an obvious fear, but many times the fear is not so apparent, thus perpetuating the person's fear that they are "going crazy." A panic attack can occur in a store, at church or at work, watching a movie, driving, and even at home. There is no defined place or situation where panic attacks are more likely to occur, nor are there places or situations that would be always excluded.

What Causes Panic Attacks?

There are various ideas. Some feel it is genetics, others believe past environment - particularly the environment in which they grew up. Still others say a combination of the above, and there are those who say none of the above. --- Regardless of the cause, it is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Diabetes is a chemical imbalance and so are panic attacks. Chemically treating the imbalance alone, is not the answer, though. A combination of medication and counseling is needed.

Additional Facts:

• Panic attacks are not new. They were described in medical literature over 100 years ago.
• More women than men seem to develop them.
• People of any age have anxiety/panic attacks.
• Panic attacks can occur as often as several times a day, to as seldom as only once every year or so.
• In many cases, you cannot tell a person is having a panic attack.
• Panic attacks vary from instance to instance, and from person to person.

Agoraphobia

What Is Agoraphobia?

The term agoraphobia has been widely misunderstood. Its literal definition suggests a fear of "open spaces". In fact, agoraphobia is a condition which develops when a person begins to avoid spaces or situations associated with anxiety.

Agoraphobia arises; from an internal anxiety condition that has become so intense that the suffering individual fears going anywhere or doing anything where these feelings of panic have repeatedly occurred before. Once the panic attacks have started, these episodes become the ongoing stress, even when other more obvious pressures have diminished. This sets up a "feedback condition" which generally leads to increased numbers of panic attacks and, for some people, an increase in the situations or events which can produce panicky feelings.

A person may fear having anxiety attacks, "losing control", or embarrassing him/herself in such situations. Many people remain in a painful state of anxious anticipation because of these fears. Some become restricted or "housebound" while others function "normally" but with great difficulty, often attempting to hide their discomfort.

Agoraphobia, then, is both a severe anxiety condition and a phobia, as well as a pattern of avoidant behavior.

How Does Agoraphobia Develop?

Agoraphobia develops after a person has experienced an individual, or series of, panic attacks. The person associates the panic with the place where it occured, and that place is considered as no longer being safe. As the "safe" zones dwindle, the person becomes more and more restricted to those few places that are still considered safe; often the only zone which remains after continued panic attacks is the person's own home. If panic attacks begin to occur inside the home, then the person's space is further restricted, sometimes to an individual room.

An agoraphobic does not only avoid places where panic has occured. They can also avoid activities or actions that have been anxiety-producing. A few examples of these would be: answering or talking on the telephone, listening to the radio or watching tv, allowing visitors into their home or safe place.

Agoraphobics can also fear situations that produce feelings of "being trapped". Standing in a line at a store, attending an event, movie or family gathering, or even stopping at a gas station to fill up their tank, are examples of situations where an agoraphobic might feel their early departure, should an attack occur, might draw attention to themselves, and therefore are also to be avoided.

What Agoraphobics Want Others To Know:

• They cannot explain why they are afraid...they just are.
• They are not "mental" or "crazy." Agoraphobia is a recognizable, legitimate disability.
• They cannot "just do it", not for you or for anyone else. It has to be safe for THEM.
• Safety zones can change. What may have been safe one day will not necessarily be safe on another day.
• Cajoling, persuading only produces more anxiety when you do it. Please don't.
• To feel safe with someone, the agoraphobic MUST know that their disabilty is accepted and they are free to express their fear, withdraw for a while, or completely leave the situation/place without explanation other than "I need to leave now."

Can Agoraphobia Be Cured?

Yes. Through medication, counseling and desensitization techniques, an agoraphobic can learn to accept their fears and overcome them. The length of treatment varies from one agoraphobic to the next.