Understanding Panic Disorders

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To
continue , in a panic disorder, brief episodes of intense fear are
accompanied by multiple physical symptoms (such as heart palpitations and
dizziness) that occur repeatedly and unexpectedly in the absence of any
external threat. These “panic attacks,” which are the hallmark of panic
disorder, are believed to occur when the brain's normal mechanism for
reacting to a threat—the so-called “fight or flight” response—becomes
inappropriately aroused. Most people with panic disorder also feel anxious
about the possibility of having another panic attack and avoid situations
in which they believe these attacks are likely to occur. Anxiety about
another attack, and the avoidance it causes, can lead to disability in
panic disorder.
In the United States, between three and six million will have panic
disorder at some time in their lives. The disorder typically begins in
young adulthood, but older people and children can be affected. Women are
affected twice as frequently as men. ...

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with the person's life even when a panic attack is not in
progress. In addition, the person may develop irrational fears called
phobias about situations where a panic attack has occurred. For example,
someone who has a panic attack while driving may be afraid to get behind
the wheel again. People who develop these panic-induced phobias will tend
to avoid situations that they fear will trigger a panic attack, and their
lives may be increasingly limited as a result. Some people who have one
panic attack, or an occasional attack, never develop a problem serious
enough to affect their lives. For others, however, the attacks continue
and cause much suffering.
Many people with panic ...

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