Panic Disorder (cont.)
Are panic attacks serious?
Yes, panic attacks are real, potentially quite emotionally disabling, but they can be controlled with specific treatments. Because of the disturbing symptoms that accompany panic attacks, they may be mistaken for heart attacks or some other life-threatening medical illness. In fact, up to 25% of people who visit emergency rooms because of chest pain are actually experiencing panic. As a result, people with this symptom often undergo extensive medical tests to rule out these other conditions.
Medical personnel generally attempt to reassure the panic-attack sufferer that he or she is not in great danger. But these efforts at reassurance can sometimes add to the patient's difficulties: If the doctors use expressions such as "nothing serious," "all in your head," or "nothing to worry about," this may give the incorrect impression that there is no real problem and that treatment is not possible or necessary. The point is that while panic attacks can certainly be serious, they are not organ-threatening.
What causes panic attacks?
According to one theory of panic disorder, the body's normal
"alarm system," the set of mental and physical mechanisms that allows a
person to respond to a threat, tends to be triggered unnecessarily, when
there is no danger. Scientists don't know exactly why this happens or why
some people are more susceptible to the problem than others. Panic
disorder has been found to run in families, and this may mean that
inheritance (genes) plays a strong role in determining who will get it.
However, many people who have no family history of the disorder develop
it. Often, the first attacks are triggered by physical illnesses, a major
life stress, or perhaps
medications that increase activity in the part of the brain involved in
fear reactions. An increase in the frequency of panic attacks has been
seen in some women during pregnancy.
Next: What is the treatment for panic attacks? »
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