Panic disorders can be extremely scary to live with. They keep you in a condition of fear in anticipation that something terrible might happen, a sense that you’re in danger. Though the sense of being at risk might be real or imaginary, the results are devastating. Many people who haven’t experienced extreme anxiety or a anxiety attack, cannot recognize how terrifying the feeling is. There’s a sensation of losing control, one’s heart throbs violently, the chest area tightens leading to breathlessness, dizziness gets control of and you don’t’ feel all there… It’s just as if part of you is present, while another part of you is absent!
When these symptoms arise and you don’t realise why they’re happening, you feel as if you’re losing your head or have developed a serious illness. Battling anxiety without seeking treatment, may result in a marked increase in your degrees of anxiety until they recur daily and grow unbearable.
Understanding anxiety along with the different types of anxiety conditions is the initial step in working with them. It’s vital that you get yourself diagnosed by a doctor or psychologist as opposed to attempting to self diagnose. The thing is that, while experiencing anxiety, it will feel like you’re enduring another sickness such as a heart attack, so a proper medical assessment is important. There are five forms of major anxiety disorders, though it’s possible to have symptoms of many panic disorders simultaneously. For example, people can have problems with anxiety and panic attacks in addition to any of these anxiety conditions:
Panic Disorder is a severe anxiety disorder where someone often has anxiety and panic attacks or lives in constant fear of having one. The intensity may be so extreme that it can feel as if you’re about to die or lose your mind! This could leave one perpetually in a condition of fear or anxiety of having another episode.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is caused by having been subject to a significant accident, injury, or assault or having seen a family member go through the ordeal. The trauma leaves a strong impact on a person’s mind, the manifestation of which are panic and anxiety attacks.
Social Anxiety is when you’re panicky or anxious about social situations since you feel you’ll result in making a fool of yourself and being ridiculed because of it.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is if you have obsessive thoughts that lead to compulsive habits that become rituals. This could take the form of constantly straightening things, obsessively washing your hands, counting or repeating words to yourself.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder is having constant and excessive anxiety for few months or more. You feel that something may or may not happen and this leads to a lot of stress. It’s that you concern yourself with everything in life! as you can imagine, GAD can be extremely tiring and debilitating.
For more help with Panic Attacks, visit Andrew V. Thompson’s site on dealing with Anxiety Attacks.