Tag: Negative Impact

Panic Attacks: Between Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia

For most people, dealing with life stressors job changes, moving, pregnancy, birth of a child, death of a loved one etc. do not result to anxiety and panic attacks. However, to those who are vulnerable to emotional stress, such situations may lead to panic attacks even if these events happened way back in their life. The reason for this is still not fully understood but it is believed that one major cause of panic attacks is extended period of stress (not by a few days of tension but by several months of constant worrying and unprocessed emotions).

The chances of having an attack are even greater when a panic-prone person receives unnecessary stress such as additional tasks at work or additional responsibility at home. Instead of performing normally under regular circumstance, the additional load can put more pressure that can lead to more stress which can be a catalyst for an attack.

What is panic disorder?

It is commonly believed that panic attacks happen out of the blue, without any reason. It can happen to anyone at any point in their life. Many people experience one episode of panic attack. However, others go on to suffer from panic disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by several episodes of panic attacks related to past traumatic experiences, existing stress (mentioned above) or something else.

Many attacks last for not more than 30 minutes but the effects of panic disorder can leave lasting effects. People suffering from panic disorder experience emotional stress and excessive fear due to the memory of past attacks. This negative memory has a negative impact to self-confidence and self-esteem, which can lead to the disruption of everyday activities and normal living. While the causes of panic disorder vary from person to person, all conditions lead to these symptoms:

Anticipatory anxiety or the fear of having future attacks. This can have a detrimental effect to the sufferer since they cannot relax and they always feel anxious and tensed in between attacks.

Phobic avoidance is characterized by avoiding situations or events in the belief that the situation may cause panic attack. Phobic avoidance can also be avoiding places where help is unavailable during emergency situation.

What is agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is traditionally believed to involve fear of open spaces or public places. Literally means “fear of the marketplace,” agoraphobia is now believed to be a result of panic attacks.

People diagnosed with agoraphobia show different symptoms. But common to all agoraphobics is avoidance either being in public places or being alone. This is actually a character of phobic avoidance (one distinct symptom of panic disorder). The difference, however, is that the effects of agoraphobia can significantly limit the person’s normal activities. Thus, what sets agoraphobia apart from panic disorder is the amount of activities that the person avoids.

People with panic disorder stay generally active, although there are specific situations that they tend to avoid. On the other hand, agoraphobics limit their activities because of fearful thoughts. These fearful thoughts can be very damaging the person’s life as well as his relationship to others.

Either way, both conditions are the result of panic attacks. Hence, it is always best to know the things you can do in order to prevent panic attacks from recurring and worsening. On the first sign of attack, seek for professional help.

Anxiety -Dont Feel Alone Everyone Experience It

We all experience some level of anxiety every now and then. A few of the more common examples include being put in harm’s way, giving a speech to a roomful of your peers, and getting through an interview for an important job. It’s normal to experience anxiety in such situations. Then there are people who experience anxiety on a frequent basis, and feel anxious when there are no immediate threats present. This type of anxiety requires treatment.

Before we get into some of the treatment options, it’s important to understand what anxiety is, and how it happens.

Anxiety happens when our body reacts to an imagined threat as if it were real. Our breathing and heart rate changes, adrenaline starts flowing, and we sweat as we go into the fight or flight response. There are times when this comes in handy, but the person with an anxiety disorder goes well beyond that point.

While you may be able to live with the occasional bout of anxiety, you should seek treatment if it is causing a negative impact on your life. A negative impact is anything that takes away from your quality of life, and your enjoyment of it. Not going to social events, staying inside due to a fear of the outside world, never stepping out of your “safe zone” because you’re afraid you won’t be able to cope are some common examples.

One of the difficulties of diagnosing anxiety is that many of the symptoms can be related to other conditions. Therefore, the sufferer may assume that they have another medical problem, when in reality they actually have an anxiety disorder. Symptoms can include, but are not limited to: shortness of breath, strong heartbeat, nausea, chest pain, fatigue, headaches, stomach pains, and insomnia. That’s quite a list, isn’t it? Someone with a strong heartbeat and pain in their chest would be fully justified in thinking they were having a heart attack, but it could just be a panic attack.

NOTE: Never assume chest pains are okay unless under the direct guidance of a doctor. Even if you have anxiety, the symptoms of a heart attack should never be ignored.

A person with an anxiety disorder thinks differently. For the sake of example, let’s say snakes make them anxious. Our sufferer sees a picture of a snake, and then his mind and body go into a different state. He sees the picture and thinks about how some snakes are poisonous, and they can bite. “What if,” he thinks to himself, “a snake bites me?” He continues by imagining being bitten, injected with venom, dying, and leaving his family destitute due to his being dead. All of this from seeing a picture!

However, his difficulty is how to stop the snowballing effect of these thoughts when they happen. Many of the treatments for anxiety are intended to stop the thought process, and a sense of calm replaces the sense of anxiety.

Depression Defined

Depression can be categorized by many different names. However, no matter what type of depression a person has, the symptoms and complications are all the same. You can have major depressive disorder, manic depression, postpartum depression, seasonal effective disorder, or a variety of others. Each type of depression has its own underlying causes, but each exhibits very similar symptoms.

Depression is a very serious medical condition. It can have a very negative impact on how a person feels. They may think negatively and they may withdraw from everyone in their life. People that have clinical depression do not have the ability to function and live their lives as they used to. They no longer enjoy activities that they have always found enjoyable. They may have very long periods of sadness or hopelessness.

Clinical depression is far different than have feelings of sadness or depression for a couple days and then finding your feeling better. Depression can have serious effects on body, mind, thoughts, and the way people behave. Eating patterns, feelings and thoughts, ability to study or work, and interactions with other people can all be affected by depression. The majority of people that are suffering from clinical depression say that they no longer feel like themselves.

Suffering from clinical depression is not a sign of personal weakness or a medical condition that can just be wished away. If a person is truly clinically depressed, they do not have the ability to get themselves together and get over the feelings and condition. Clinical depression can quite often interfere with the ability of a person to seek or want to get help. Clinical depression is a very serious medical condition that lasts for a period of weeks, months, and often even years. It can cause suffers to think about or try to commit suicide.

Depression does not discriminate in regards to its sufferers. People that have depression can be any age, any gender, ethnicity, culture, or religious affiliation. Every year more than 17 million Americans, both men and women, are affected by depression. Clinical depression is a very common medical disorder. However, it is quite often not recognized or goes untreated or undiagnosed.

There are many different types and levels of depression. Depression is diagnosed and treated by psychiatrists and mental health counselors who are trained for this. People that have depression can feel better and get back to their normal lives within a few months if they receive the right treatments. The majority of sufferers start feeling better within a matter of weeks.

Most often, treatment for depression can be done on an outpatient basis. Treatment can include a combination of medications and therapy or counseling. In some severe cases, sufferers may require inpatient treatment. They may need to spend some time in the hospital where they can be closely monitored and watched. One of the most common reasons for inpatient treatment or hospitalization in relation to depression is due to thoughts or attempts of suicide. Close monitoring and medication and intensive therapy are often needed in these situations. Most inpatients are feeling better and able to function outside of the hospital within a few weeks time.

Panic Attacks: Between Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia

For most people, dealing with life stressors job changes, moving, pregnancy, birth of a child, death of a loved one etc. do not result to anxiety and panic attacks. However, to those who are vulnerable to emotional stress, such situations may lead to panic attacks even if these events happened way back in their life. The reason for this is still not fully understood but it is believed that one major cause of panic attacks is extended period of stress (not by a few days of tension but by several months of constant worrying and unprocessed emotions).

The chances of having an attack are even greater when a panic-prone person receives unnecessary stress such as additional tasks at work or additional responsibility at home. Instead of performing normally under regular circumstance, the additional load can put more pressure that can lead to more stress which can be a catalyst for an attack.

What is panic disorder?

It is commonly believed that panic attacks happen out of the blue, without any reason. It can happen to anyone at any point in their life. Many people experience one episode of panic attack. However, others go on to suffer from panic disorder. Panic disorder is characterized by several episodes of panic attacks related to past traumatic experiences, existing stress (mentioned above) or something else.

Many attacks last for not more than 30 minutes but the effects of panic disorder can leave lasting effects. People suffering from panic disorder experience emotional stress and excessive fear due to the memory of past attacks. This negative memory has a negative impact to self-confidence and self-esteem, which can lead to the disruption of everyday activities and normal living. While the causes of panic disorder vary from person to person, all conditions lead to these symptoms:

Anticipatory anxiety or the fear of having future attacks. This can have a detrimental effect to the sufferer since they cannot relax and they always feel anxious and tensed in between attacks.

Phobic avoidance is characterized by avoiding situations or events in the belief that the situation may cause panic attack. Phobic avoidance can also be avoiding places where help is unavailable during emergency situation.

What is agoraphobia?

Agoraphobia is traditionally believed to involve fear of open spaces or public places. Literally means “fear of the marketplace,” agoraphobia is now believed to be a result of panic attacks.

People diagnosed with agoraphobia show different symptoms. But common to all agoraphobics is avoidance either being in public places or being alone. This is actually a character of phobic avoidance (one distinct symptom of panic disorder). The difference, however, is that the effects of agoraphobia can significantly limit the person’s normal activities. Thus, what sets agoraphobia apart from panic disorder is the amount of activities that the person avoids.

People with panic disorder stay generally active, although there are specific situations that they tend to avoid. On the other hand, agoraphobics limit their activities because of fearful thoughts. These fearful thoughts can be very damaging the person’s life as well as his relationship to others.

Either way, both conditions are the result of panic attacks. Hence, it is always best to know the things you can do in order to prevent panic attacks from recurring and worsening. On the first sign of attack, seek for professional help.