During a panic attack, intense fear suddenly overcomes a person. A full-blown panic disorder is characterized by panic symptoms or attack that occur with enough frequency to be disabling or impairing.
Panic patients often fear dying during their attacks, and commonly rush to emergency rooms believing that they are suffering from heart attacks.
The American Psychiatric Association has established the following criteria for defining panic disorder:
*The person who has panic disorder must have had two or more panic attacks.
*These attacks must be full-blown and not limited symptom attacks
*At least one attack is followed by one month or more of continue worry about having another panic attack.
*The attack are not effects of a medical conditions of a drug.
The panic attacks usually last minutes or more rarely, hours. Actual panic attacks are sudden and develop swiftly, lasting 20 to 30 minutes at most.
Some people with panic disorder may develop varying degrees of nervousness and apprehension between attacks.
Women had panic disorder at approximately twice the rate of men. Panic disorder was most common among subjects aged 30 to 44 years and at least common among subjects who were at least 65 years old.
During panic attacks, the elderly were found to be more likely to exhibit shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating and depersonalization than other populations.
Panic disorder is a serious illness that affects at least 1 out of every 75 people worldwide. It is a treatable mental illness.
Panic disorder
