Panic Disorder Symptoms
Recognizing And Dealing With Panic Disorder Symptoms
Your heart keeps on pounding and you’re finding it hard to breathe. You’re really sick and nauseous and you feel like you’re going to throw up. If you frequently experience these every time you find yourself under a stressful situation, you might be having a panic attack. But if these have become recurrent, almost ruining your daily activities and your relationship with other people, you might be having panic disorder symptoms.
Panic disorders are oftentimes mistaken as panic attacks. But there is a big difference between these two since a person with panic disorder is someone who frequently experiences panic attacks, not just one or two bouts, but more. One panic attack may only last for a couple of minutes leaving you with nothing to worry about. But with panic disorders, your emotions are the very first ones that are affected. You tend to worry more about the attacks that could come in the future and you tend to keep yourself away from areas where you have panicked.
The worst thing about panic disorders is that it can strike you anytime without any warning. This is why it’s good and important to know the symptoms of panic disorder so you can, somehow, prevent the attack from exacerbating.
You know panic attack has struck when you feel intense fear and overwhelming feeling of stress and agitation when faced with threat and danger. But generally, the symptoms are categorized into two classifications.
One classification is the emotional symptoms, which could either be anticipatory anxiety or phobia. Anticipatory anxiety is when you tend to focus more on what could happen if the attack comes again. Instead of working to calm yourself, your mind is filled with worries and what ifs. Phobia, on the other hand, refers to your avoidance to places where you’ve had panic attacks. It also pertains to your avoidance to areas where there’s no big or easy way to escape in case something bad happens.
Meanwhile, physical symptoms are those that are very much noticeable and are often the easiest ways to detect the onset of panic attacks and disorders. These symptoms include nausea and dizziness; palpitations and fast heart rate; abdominal distress; shortness of breath; hot flushes and chills; chest pain; and numbness. Four or more of these symptoms means that panic attack has just struck.
Panic disorder symptoms are not really harmful since they’re only manifestations of your body that has overreacted under an extremely stressful environment. But this doesn’t mean that you should not do anything. It is still best to address these symptoms as soon as they’ve become noticeable. Treatment programs and sessions with therapists are oftentimes recommended for panic disorder sufferers.
