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What is a Panic Attack? Is it a Mental Illness?
submitted: Dec 11th 2007 |
by: ChrisCrawley
Total views: 5 |
Word Count: 927 |
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There seems to be a conception that puts panic attacks under mental illnesses. To understand this we first need to take a closer look at panic attacks and see what they really are. Additionally, we need to analyze the cause behind such manifestations and also study how it affects one's body.
Panic Attack?
Panic attacks are usually defined as being a discrete, sudden feeling of very intense fear, anxiety and feeling of discomfort. Usually it is also linked with several different cognitive and somatic symptoms. It is a condition that normally shows an abrupt onset and usually no obvious reason can be observed.
Panic attacks are considered to be a fight that appears due to a context and flooding body with different variety of hormones, mostly adrenalin, so that those hormones aid the body in it need to defend itself from harm.
Ordinarily panic attacks last about 10 minutes. There are of course variations to this, from as small as 5 minutes to severe anxiety attacks that can last several hours.
Sometimes when a person suffer from panic attacks, he/she can also experience anticipatory anxiety, which can happen between panic attacks.
Different individuals will get different affecting levels from panic attacks. Those that already got through many in the past might also be able to eliminate the panic attack without even anyone noticing that it might have appeared.
Having said that, persons who are experiencing their first panic attack usually call for emergency services as they have no previous experience and they might be thinking that they are experiencing a nervous breakdown or even a heart attack.
What Causes Panic Attacks?
There are several different causes for anxiety and panic attacks. Once we study them we'll see whether panic attacks can be considered as mental illnesses.
We need to analyze the cause in order to understand the effect with any medical condition out there, including this one. First off we have long term, predisposing causes, mainly based on heredity.
Inheritance can play an important role when determining who might suffer from panic attacks in the future and some panic attacks do run in certain families. However, it must be realized that one can suffer from panic attacks even if there are no previous cases in your family before.
Possible biological can also cause panic attacks. These can include inner ear disturbances, mitral valve prolapse, Vitamin B deficiency, Wilson's Syndrome, post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, hypoglycemia, hyperthyroidism and a whole lot more. There's also a possibility that phobias generate panic attacks when the person is confronting a phobic situation or thing.
Short term for panic attacks can also be caused by some situations. Some of the most common ones are things like personal loss, a significant life change, several stimulants like nicotine and caffeine, drugs like psilocybin or marijuana etc.
Side effects of some drugs can also cause panic attacks. Ritalin is one example, but it's not certainly the only one. There are two possible outcomes in this situation.
Panic attacks can be noticed to appear only when the patient gets the first medication or it can continue even after continued use. As living with panic attacks caused by drugs can be very difficult it is recommended that alternative medication routine is researched. The early stages of use of SSRIs can cause increased anxiety as well.
Hyperventilation Syndrome is also known to cause panic attacks for individuals suffering from it. Chest breathing is known to be a cause for over breathing as excess in exhalation of carbon dioxide when compared to the oxygen in your blood will cause this over breathing.
Also, persons who suffered a panic attack in the past will be more likely to get a new one when a certain situation that is similar to that which was seen at the first attack takes place.
This can mean that a person can get a cognitive or behavioral predisposition towards getting a panic attack in different situations. Pharmacological triggers can also have a direct impact.
There are different stimulants, depressants, chemical substances that have the power of pharmacologically contributing to a list of possible triggers. The most common examples can be given in alcohol, amphetamine or caffeine but there are many more that could be mentioned.
In some cases like these, people that suffer from panic attacks might even develop a phobia for one drug or different chemicals.
Are Panic Attacks Mental Illnesses?
As we can see from the list of causes attached to panic attacks we can sum everything up with a simple and clear conclusion: Panic attack is NOT a mental illness.
However, we can say that there are similarities but the best we can do is to consider them coincidences and the medical condition at hand is simply a cognitive or somatic behavioral situation that has a damaging impact on the human body.
In order to treat it, some practices have been developed and a giant step towards curing the person stands in getting him to confront the external elements that are causing the anxiety episodes.
Treatment options are different exactly based on the cause and the trigger, together with an analysis to the seriousness of the panic attack exhibited. Usually treating the problem is relatively easy but there is also the chance that it might require months of treatment and strong medication in order to end up with completely removing the situation of suffering from a new panic attack.
Also, although panic attacks are not a mental illness, they can be cured in some circumstances with the help of mental processes based on the power of the human mind. Relaxation techniques for instance can have a huge success in dealing with patients suffering from the condition.
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