Panic Disorder

This is characterized by a sudden attack of impending doom, terror or fear that can occur seemingly for no reason and often without warning. This is often quickly followed by several physical symptoms including a rapid heart beat, chest pains, palpitations, numbness, tingling or pins and needles feelings, dizziness and lightheadedness.

I experienced many of these during the early stages of my recovery, some of which lasted just a few minutes, others lasting several hours. On several occasions I ended up in the Emergency Room of my local hospital as I was convinced I was seriously ill. The symptoms often don’t subside after the original attack, and unless you are lucky enough to find a doctor who is able to ease your worries about these symptoms, as happened in my case, they can then become an additional source of concern, stressing the body further and triggering further attacks or symptoms to arise. This is often why panic disorder can progress into a much more complicated disorder to treat.

Anxiety Panic disorder often co-exists with other related disorders, such as Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), depression, and in my case Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (following my collapse and resulting injury in the bathroom).

The best form of treatment for this kind of disorder is early identifcation, appropriate support and therapy. Sometimes, though, people don’t end up diagnosed quickly (as in my case) and their bodies end up so over-stimulated such that tranquilizers or anti-depressants are necessary before any other healing work can take place. Some people believe that these don’t actually help, as in many case these drugs can introduce further side effect related symptoms that can cause additional worry and stress. I certainly suffered from such worries. However, on balance I think that it would have been extremely hard for me to cope with the level of fear and panic that I was experiencing on a constant basis without some from of medical tranquilization.