It's pretty confusing, huh? Panic attacks? Anxiety disorder? Panic disorder? Anxiety attacks? I mean what are we talking about? Are they exactly the same? Or is there a difference?
Well, let's see if we can sort it out together. Here's the basics:
Panic Attacks: Just one of the Rooms in the House Known as Anxiety Disorder
Put simply, panic attacks are just one manifestation of the general category of anxiety disorders. So, it is possible for you to have an anxiety disorder but not have panic attacks, but it is not possible for you to have panic attacks but not have an anxiety disorder since a panic attack is an anxiety disorder.
What is a Panic Attack?
both involve a general sense of apprehension when it comes to facing the world. What makes panic attacks distinctive, however, is that they involve specific episodes where a person has a physical and psychological attack. Physical symptoms include chest pains, difficulty breathing, accelerated pulse, and dizziness. Sometimes they will also tremble and have hot or cold flashes.
Psychologically, the person having the attack will feel an overwhelming fear that they are about to die or that they are losing their minds. These episodes or attacks can last as long as an hour though they are typically only a few minutes long.
What is Anxiety Disorder?
Although the two are related there are other types of anxiety disorder that do not always involve panic attacks. Depending who you talk to, there are five other kinds.
GED, generalized anxiety disorder, is a condition where a person is constantly and disproportionately worried about things that might not even affect them. (A housewife might spend hours and days worrying about terrorism or swine flu, for example.)
Social Anxiety Disorder is basically a fear of interacting with other people. These sufferers are typically hyper-shy people who can't even make eye contact with other people and who mumble when spoken to.
Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, PTSD, is a condition that you may have heard of in relation to our veterans. It typically does involve panic attacks, but unlike many panic attacks is caused by a specific life threatening event in the sufferer's past.
Separation Anxiety is a disorder that makes the sufferer want to always remain in contact with a loved one. This over-clinging often causes a sense of constant anxiety that cannot be fulfilled by any level of attention from the loved one.
Phobias are intense fears of specific stimuli. You might think of it as the Indiana Jones anxiety disorder, as in: "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?" People with this disorder are terrified of a specific thing in the world like spiders, or snakes or mice.
and Depression
To complicate the distinction between the two however, it must be said that panic attacks are often associated with both phobias and PTSD. For this reason, many experts consider them as less of an anxiety disorder by itself than as a manifestation of other forms of disorders.
Further complicating things is the fact that almost everyone who suffers from anxiety attacks, also suffers from depression. The connection is so strong, in fact, that often the best medical prescription for anxiety attacks is not anti-anxiety medication but medication that are made to treat depression.
Having explained all this, however, I should say that it hardly matters what the distinctions between these diseases are. If you suffer from any of these you just want to find an appropriate treatment. So, keeping in mind that when you suffer from anxiety attacks you are also likely to suffer from other anxiety type disorders or from depression you should learn more and seek out an appropriate treatment for your individual condition. Good luck.
Tom Tait is focused on helping those with panic attacks. Here is more information on Anxiety Stress Disorder. There is even more information about Panic Attacks on the website Panic Attacks.
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