Panic DisorderPanic Disorder may be present if you find yourself having sudden episodes of intense fear or anxiety (called a panic attack) and then become persistently concerned about having additional attacks. A Panic Attack is defined as four or more of the following anxiety symptoms (Take note of how close these symptoms resemble the fight of flight response )
People with panic disorder begin to worry about going crazy or losing control and then start to make changes that interfere with their daily lives. Why You are Not CrazyRemember that the real purpose of anxiety is to gear up our body to fight or run for our life. Because of this, anxiety symptoms are supposed to happen quickly and without conscious thought. They have to be automatic or our response would be too slow in an emergency.The part of our brain that controls our anxiety is primitive and often will not listen to reason. It can take a lot of retraining to convince our nervous system that something does not warrant a fight or flight response, once it has determined that it does. People with panic disorder become highly attuned to changes in their body and the environment. Small changes that you may not even be aware of can trigger a threat reaction. Things also get complicated because anxiety reproduces and essentially ‘validates” itself. Sometimes just the fact that something produces fear (even if we know that it is not rational) “proves” to our brain that it really is dangerous. What To DoSee your doctor, first if you believe you may be experiencing symptoms of Panic Disorder. Your doctor can assess you and recommend the necessary treatment. Your doctor may also prescribe medication and this can be helpful, calming your nervous system long enough so that counseling and other non-medicinal treatments can work.Give Counseling a try. Our bodies do possess their own natural means of stress reduction, but often we need help and practice to put them to work for us. Counseling, group therapy and other treatment methods are highly successful with this. Self Care. Self Care. Self Care. Taking care of yourself (after medical treatment) is the best way to manage the stress of modern, daily life. Exercise, laughter, proper sleep, leisure time, a healthy diet, social activities, satisfying relationships (see the tend and befriend response ) and spirituality provide natural stress relief. Be easy on yourself and get the treatment you need. Taking good care of yourself is the best way to take care of your family.
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