Panic Disorder
Panic attacks can be very frightening and upsetting. They are typically marked by a rush of physical symptoms occurring all at once, such as racing heart, chest pain, difficulty breathing, shaking or trembling, hot or cold flushes, sweating, and feelings of dizziness. Many people with panic attacks worry they are having a heart attack or some other serious health problem or that they are losing control or losing their sanity. Sometimes they fear that they might be trapped in a situation where it will be difficult to leave or get the help that they need. For some people, panic attacks come on in stressful situations or have clear triggers, such as being in a crowded or overwhelming environment. For other people, panic attacks come on out of the blue. People who repeatedly have panic attacks can develop panic disorder. Individuals with panic disorder are usually very worried about having panic attacks and avoid situations where they feel at risk for having a panic attack.
Understanding Panic Attacks
Everyone’s body has a “panic system” that functions very much like a smoke detector in a house. In the case of a potential fire, the smoke detector will go off and save lives. In the same way, our body’s internal panic system can give us a rush of adrenaline when we need to act quickly to avert danger, like when we need to slam on our brakes to avoid a car crash. Just like smoke detectors can provide a false alarm (e.g., when we burn something while cooking and there is too much smoke), our body can provide false alarms in the form of a panic attack. In short, people with panic disorder can be thought of as having an overly sensitive panic alarm system going off in situations where it isn’t needed. Treatment for panic disorder involves trying to reset this internal alarm system.
Treatment for Panic Disorder
​Panic disorder can be treated by changing thinking patterns that heighten our body’s panic response. Recognizing that panic symptoms are very unpleasant but ultimately harmless is important. Part of treatment involves sticking with situations where panic occurs. When people try to quickly escape situations where panic attacks occur, this unfortunately reinforces the faulty alarm system described in the “How to Understand Panic Disorder” section above. Sometimes treatment for panic disorder will involve bringing about some of the symptoms that occur during panic attacks and learning to better cope with the symptoms. The technical term for this is called “interoceptive exposure” and it is part of a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) approach to treating panic disorder.
