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What Is A Panic Attack?
Question: What is a panic attack!?!? What causes them and what can I do to stop or control them!?!?
Brief Answer:
treated with therapy and medication
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Panic disorder is diagnosed when a person experiences spontaneous and unexpected panic attacks.
Panic attacks are defined in medicine as a period of intense fear in which at least 4 out of 13 symptoms develop suddenly and increase rapidly in intensity in less than 10 minutes from time symptoms first started.
The 13 symptoms that commonly occur are: (1) palpitations or pounding heart
(2)sweating
(3)trembling or shaking
(4)shortness of breath or feeling can't breath
(5)feeling of choking
(6)chest pain /discomfort
(7)nausea/abdominal distress
(8)dizziness, lightheaded feeling
(9)derealization, depersonalization- feeling separated from yourself
(10)fear of losing control or going crazy
(11)fear of dying
(12)numbness or tingling
(13) chills , hot flashes
Triggers/causes can vary from one person to the next. What triggers an attack in one person may not in the other.
The initial triggers may be injury, illness, personal conflict, side effect of stimulants eg caffeine or decongestants
Treatment involves therapy and medication. Unfortunately it is not usually treated well on own.
Therapy such as CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) is thought to be the most effective. It is actually recommended with or without medication.
It involves looking at the thoughts/ideas/beliefs/fear cues and changing these and the behavior.
It involves weekly sessions for a few months
There are also medications that can help. These are medications that are normally used for anxiety such as cymbalta, celexa, zoloft, paxil, etc
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
treated with therapy and medication
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Panic disorder is diagnosed when a person experiences spontaneous and unexpected panic attacks.
Panic attacks are defined in medicine as a period of intense fear in which at least 4 out of 13 symptoms develop suddenly and increase rapidly in intensity in less than 10 minutes from time symptoms first started.
The 13 symptoms that commonly occur are: (1) palpitations or pounding heart
(2)sweating
(3)trembling or shaking
(4)shortness of breath or feeling can't breath
(5)feeling of choking
(6)chest pain /discomfort
(7)nausea/abdominal distress
(8)dizziness, lightheaded feeling
(9)derealization, depersonalization- feeling separated from yourself
(10)fear of losing control or going crazy
(11)fear of dying
(12)numbness or tingling
(13) chills , hot flashes
Triggers/causes can vary from one person to the next. What triggers an attack in one person may not in the other.
The initial triggers may be injury, illness, personal conflict, side effect of stimulants eg caffeine or decongestants
Treatment involves therapy and medication. Unfortunately it is not usually treated well on own.
Therapy such as CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) is thought to be the most effective. It is actually recommended with or without medication.
It involves looking at the thoughts/ideas/beliefs/fear cues and changing these and the behavior.
It involves weekly sessions for a few months
There are also medications that can help. These are medications that are normally used for anxiety such as cymbalta, celexa, zoloft, paxil, etc
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Note: For further guidance on mental health, Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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