Understanding Panic Attacks
and Panic Disorder.
Dr. Sandra offers individual, personalized therapy for panic attacks and panic disorder. Read below to learn about the symptoms, causes, treatment strategies and management of panic disorder.
Symptoms of Panic Disorder
To understand panic disorder symptoms, we first have to identify and understand if panic attacks are occurring. Panic attacks are an abrupt, powerful onset of fear, anxiety, and/or intense discomfort that reaches its peak within 10 minutes. If four or more of these panic attack symptoms occur rapidly and reach an intense peak within 10 minutes, you may be experiencing a panic attack.
During this surge of discomfort, four or more of the following panic attack symptoms must be present to meet criteria for a panic attack:
✔ accelerated heart rate
✔ sweating
✔ shakiness
✔ sensations of shortness of breath
✔ feeling of choking
✔ chest discomfort
✔ nausea or stomach pain
✔ dizziness/lightheaded
✔ sensations of derealization/depersonalization
✔ fear of losing control or “going crazy”
✔ fear of dying
✔ numbing or tingling sensations
✔ and/or chills or heat sensations
If four or more of these panic attack symptoms occur rapidly and reach an intense peak within 10 minutes, you may be experiencing a panic attack.
Panic Disorder, however, includes additional symptoms alongside the panic attack(s). Panic Disorder occurs when, after experiencing a panic attack, one feels intense fear and anxiety about another panic attack occurring. Subsequent panic attacks may or may not occur. Individuals with Panic Disorder experience pre-occupation and worry about having another panic attack and/or change their behaviors to avoid vulnerability to a subsequent attack.
Causes of Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder
Panic Attacks may or may not have a direct cause. They can occur out of the blue/randomly or they can occur in situations where the individual is already feeling anxious/fearful. Panic Attacks can co-occur with other anxiety disorders. For example, an individual can have Social Anxiety Disorder with Panic Attacks if they experience panic attacks while in social situations.
Panic Disorder is often caused by fear of subsequent panic attacks after experiencing recurrent or unexpected panic attacks. The recurrent or unexpected panic attacks feel extremely scary and threatening to individuals, which leads to a belief of panic sensations = danger. This prompts the development of Panic Disorder. Individuals with panic disorder may worry frequently about having another attack and/or how to avoid another attack. They may avoid activities that prompt similar sensations (i.e., avoid going for a run because accelerated heart rate/heat sensation feels similar to panic attack). Often times, the fear and avoidance of subsequent panic attacks wind up causing panic attacks to occur more frequently.
Managing Panic Disorder
Living with panic disorder is very difficult. Luckily, there are effective strategies and treatment for managing panic disorder. Individual therapy, psychiatric consultation/medication and support groups can help with coping with and overcoming panic disorder.
Panic Disorder Tips and Resources
There are also tips for coping with panic attacks and panic disorder. At a time that you are feeling calm, create a brief message for yourself to reference next time you begin to experience panic sensations. Keep this message somewhere accessible, like the notes section on your phone or a post-it at your desk. What you write on this “coping card” is up to you.
Remind yourself that you’ve felt this way before and made it through.
Label what’s happening- “This is a panic attack. This is anxiety.”
Look around and note physical safety- “At this moment, I am safe. I am not in danger. This is a false alarm.”
Prompt yourself to take deep, paced breaths. Breathe in for four seconds, hold for four seconds, and breathe out for four seconds. You can also try self-help/self-guided resources for panic attacks and panic disorder. One I recommend is Panic Attacks Workbook by David Carbonell, PhD.
Treatment Strategies for Panic Disorder
Research supports personalized individual therapy for panic disorder using approaches such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Interoceptive Exposure, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Through treatment, individuals learn to live with panic disorder by reducing symptom intensity. Treatment strategies focus on adjusting the individual's thoughts and behaviors surrounding panic attacks - generating more helpful beliefs about panic attacks, reducing avoidance behaviors associated with panic, and increasing behaviors that align with the individual’s core values.
Book Your Free 10-Minute Consultation
I offer specialized and personalized individual therapy for panic attacks and panic disorder. I treat panic attacks and panic disorder in-person in Conshohocken, PA and online through telehealth in 42 states including New Jersey, Connecticut, Maryland, and Delaware. I am happy to meet you on a free phone call and discuss next steps. Let me help you get your life back from panic!