Anxiety is not just feeling tense or worried. It interferes markedly with a person's capacity to go about their everyday life.



* Anxiety disorders are the most common of all mental disorders.



* Anxiety often begins early in childhood (or the teenage years), and if untreated leads to depression, alcohol or substance abuse in later life.



* Most people with anxiety do not come forward for treatment.



* Anxiety symptoms can be effectively treated.



* Anxiety is best managed with non-drug treatments.



Anxiety attacks are sudden surges of overwhelming fear that that comes without warning and without any obvious reason. It is far more intense than having anxiety or the feeling of being 'stressed out' that most people experience. One out of every 75 people worldwide will experience a panic attack at one time in their lives.



In any given year, about 1/3 of American adults have at least one panic attack; most of these adults never develop repeated panic attacks. This startling data means that anxiety attacks and panic disorder are the most common emotional disorders and are more common than bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD, ADHD, phobias, alcohol abuse or depression. Anxiety and panic disorder also has the lowest rates - about 21% - for seeking help and finding it. Sadly these numbers are on the rise every day.







The symptoms of a panic attack.



* raging heartbeat



* difficulty breathing, feeling as though you 'can't get enough air



* terror that is almost paralyzing



* nervous, shaking, stress



* heart palpitation, feeling of dread



* dizziness, light-headedness or nausea



* trembling, sweating, shaking



* choking, chest pains, distress



* fear, fright, afraid, anxious



* hot flashes, or sudden chills



* tingling in fingers or toes ('pins and needles')



* fearful that you're going to go crazy or are about to die.



The purpose of this material is to explain Panic Anxiety Disorder. It may help you to decide if you are having panic attacks. If there is reason to suspect Panic Anxiety Disorder, the article suggests a reasonable approach to take so that a proper diagnosis can be made and, if necessary, treatment begun. This is intended for educational information only. Treatment for appendicitis is not a 'do it yourself' project. Neither is treatment for Panic Anxiety Disorder. If you believe, after reading this, that you might have Panic Anxiety Disorder, you should see your physician who can either diagnose and treat you, or refer you to a specialist.



What a panic attack feels like.



The main symptom of a Panic Anxiety Disorder is the panic attack itself. Panic Anxiety Disorder is a medical disorder characterized by severe and sudden episodes.



It is important to mention that sudden episodes of the symptoms listed above caused by another reasonable cause are not panic attacks. Two such reasonable causes would be (1) a certain medical ailment that might mimic a panic attack, or (2) a life threatening experience immediately preceding the attack. If these reasonable causes are found not be the cause of the problem then there is the possibility of a Panic Disorder.



Panic attacks reach maximum intensity within a minute or two once they begin. They diminish slowly over the next 30 minutes or the next several hours. It is common for the first attack to cause a person to go to an emergency medical facility. Subsequent attacks occur several times a month and are often as severe as the initial attack.



About three fourths of Panic Disorder patients are women. Panic Anxiety Disorder begins most often when people are 20-30 years old. It begins less often in teenagers or persons in their forties. It is uncommon for the disorder to appear in the elderly for the first time.



It is important to note that although a few experts say it is more common in persons who experienced a separation experience as a child, many of experts feel that Panic Anxiety Disorder afflicts emotionally healthy people. Persons having Panic attacks are no more likely than the average American to have suffered from emotional problems at the time the disorder begins.



Afraid of Something.



Persons experiencing repetitive, severe panic attacks may simply have panic attacks and that is all. Other persons may begin to experience a progression of bothersome or distressing panic attack "side effects". This progression commonly occurs as follows:



1. A few weeks or months prior to the first panic attack there are sometimes minor symptoms such as rapid heart beat.



2. The first major panic attack occurs. The person often seeks emergency medical evaluation at this time. The initial examination is commonly normal.



3. Continued panic attacks cause the person to seek further medical evaluations which may be inconclusive. Many panic attack sufferers go for months or years before receiving the proper diagnosis and by that time may have seen over a dozen physicians, psychologists and counselors. This appearance of "doctor shopping" may cause others to regard the sufferer as a hypochondriac.



4. An individual with Panic Anxiety Disorder may begin to avoid a certain activity because it occurs to them that it would be especially embarrassing or dangerous to have a panic attack while engaged in that activity. A typical sufferer of Panic Anxiety Disorder might think, "It's bad enough to have a panic attack at all, but it would be dangerous to have one on Interstate 75 because I would be preoccupied with the attack and would not be a safe driver. I might wreck my car, injuring myself or someone else!" This avoidance behavior may appear to be a fear of driving when it is really a fear of having a panic attack while driving.



5. Tendencies to avoid circumstances in everyday life may increase and extend to more activities. This extensive avoidance behavior is referred to as agoraphobia.



Places, activities or circumstances frequently avoided by persons with Panic Anxiety Disorder include the following:



Shopping malls



Department stores



Restaurants



Church



Meetings



Classes



Driving



Being alone



Airplanes



Elevators



6. After months or years of continuous panic attacks and the restricted lifestyle caused by the typical avoidance behavior, the sufferer of Panic Anxiety Disorder may become demoralized and psychologically or physically depressed.



Some sufferers turn to alcohol in an attempt to self medicate or to diminish the symptoms of the disorder. This greatly complicates the individual's life and ability to seek appropriate treatment.



Tragically, one out of every five untreated sufferers attempts to end his or her life, never realizing that there was hope and treatment available.