PANIC

WHAT IS PANIC DISORDER

Sometimes, episodes or symptoms of anxiety can be so severe that it causes what is often called a Panic or Anxiety attack. What generally occurs is the anxiety continues to rise (more often than not as a result of the distorted thinking patterns of the individual) until it blossoms into a fully incapacitating panic attack. These attacks generally peak within ten minutes, and they rarely last more than thirty minutes. But in that short time, the terror can be so severe that you may be convinced that you are about to die or totally lose control of your mind. The symptoms can be very deceiving: The ALC regularly receives referrals from several of the local hospitals from patients who have been brought to the Emergency Department via ambulance as they were experiencing the classic symptoms of cardiac arrest. Basically, consider the symptoms of a panic attack as anxiety on steroids:

• Spikes of overwhelming panic
• Sense of losing control or your mind
• Heart palpitations
• Chest pain
• Fear of fainting
• Difficulty breathing
• Hyperventilation
• Fear of choking