WHAT IS PANIC ATTACK?
Its main feature is abrupt and recurrent episodes of intense anxiety or fear, which leave one terrified. We call these seizures, which our patients often call “crises”, PANIC ATTACKS.
Panic Attack begins suddenly, becomes more severe and peaks within 10 minutes; It usually goes away on its own after 10-30 minutes (rarely up to 1 hour).
WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF PANIC ATTACK?
Chest pain or tightness in the chest,
Palpitations, strong or rapid heartbeat
Sweating,
Shortness of breath or suffocating
Cut-off
Dizziness, lightheadedness, falling or fainting
Numbness or tingling
Chills, chills or hot flashes
Nausea or abdominal pain
Shaking or shaking
Feeling yourself or others changed, strange and different
Fear of losing control or going crazy
Fear of death
A Panic Attack has at least 4 or more of these symptoms.
Attacks with fewer than four symptoms are called Restricted Panic Attacks.
WHAT IS PANIC DISORDER?
Panic Disorder,
Recurrent unexpected panic attacks
Persistent worry that there will be more Panic Attacks in between attacks,
Persistent sadness or the belief that Panic Attacks may lead to bad consequences such as “having a heart attack and dying”, “losing control and going crazy” or “having a stroke”
It is a mental disorder in which some behavioral changes are seen (such as not going to work, not doing sports, not doing housework, not eating or drinking some food or drinks, carrying medicine, water, alcohol, and various foods) as a precaution against attacks and possible bad consequences.
HOW DOES PANIC DISORDER OCCUR?
The first attack begins:
Sudden onset of chest pain for no reason, chest tightness, palpitations, shortness of breath, sweating, tremors, chills or chills, sometimes nausea or abdominal pain, dizziness, unsteadiness; Symptoms such as falling or fainting, numbness or tingling leave the person terrified. At that moment, he thinks he is having a “heart attack” or is having a stroke, and experiences an intense “fear of death” or “fear of being paralyzed”. Sometimes, with the emergence of feelings such as strangeness, drowsiness, feeling strange or different in himself or his surroundings, he starts to fear that he will hurt himself or those around him, thinking that he is “losing control” or “going crazy”. The patient has great fear and anxiety. and are taken to the nearest doctor or emergency room by their relatives. In many examinations, films, EKG, CT and other examinations performed there, nothing is found, and he is sent home with oxygen or a “sedative” injection. When asked what’s wrong with the patient, doctors say “he’s got nothing” or “he’s stressed”. The attacks are recurring: Although the patient relaxes a little at that moment, after a while, he begins to experience the same horror and fear with a new Panic Attack and is transported to the emergency rooms with each new attack. Despite re-examination and re-examination every time and no negative results, the patient does not get better; He even begins to believe that something bad is going on in his heart or brain, but doctors can’t find it. For this reason, no physical disease can be detected that can explain the patient’s complaints, despite the fact that a world of money is spent on examinations and examinations performed each time by different doctors. Sometimes misdiagnosed and the patient is tried to be treated with different drugs, from antibiotics to breath fresheners, from palpitations to blood pressure and heart medicine and vitamins, but the result is inconclusive.
cannot be obtained. Anticipatory Anxiety develops: As the attacks continue to recur, the patient in the period between attacks; nervous, restless and anxious, he begins to wait for a new panic attack to come at any moment. This anxious anticipation is called anticipatory anxiety. The fact that attacks often come at uncertain times and places increases this anxiety even more. As attacks become more frequent, fears of dying from a heart attack, being paralyzed, or losing control and going crazy intensify.
Intense and Persistent Sadness:
Patients are strongly afraid of having a heart attack when no one is at home, dying before reaching the hospital, or going crazy and committing suicide by losing control, hurting themselves or their relatives with a knife or something like that, and being disgraced by acting crazy and strange in the presence of others. They also feel intense sadness because these thoughts constantly come to their minds.
Behaviors Are Changing:
After a while, they begin to take some precautions and change some of their behaviors against the attacks and the “disasters” they believe will happen during the attacks. They give up activities, foods and drinks that they think may cause attacks. They use alcohol/substance/drugs while leaving the house against attacks. They take precautions against what may happen during attacks. For example, patients who believe that they will lose control and harm their children during an attack, keep all the knives locked in the house as a precaution and try not to be alone with their children; Fearing that she will lose herself or faint during an attack, female patients wear trousers when they have to go out, so that their legs cannot be seen when they faint and fall, they do not take their jewelery with them when they are unconscious, and they even provide the address of their house, spouse/family, telephone number and even the address of their house, spouse/family, in order to assist those who find them unconscious. It was observed that they were carrying the business card of their doctor in order to reach them for medical help. In order to get emergency help quickly when these patients need; they prefer to spend all their days in the hospital garden or choose their routes from places where there is a practice, pharmacy and emergency room.
WHY DOES PANIC DISORDER OCCUR?
There are two scientific explanations for why Panic Disorder occurs:
1. Panic Disorder occurs as a result of abnormal functioning of some brain hormones, which are secreted from nerve cells called neurons in our brain, which regulate our excitement and emotional lives.
2. Panic Disorder is the evaluation of physical symptoms such as palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath or dizziness, which are completely “natural and harmless” as a result of some of our behaviors in our daily life, as symptoms of a bad illness by the patient.
and as a result, it is misinterpreted as “I am having a heart attack, I will die”, “I am going crazy”, “I will be paralyzed”.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO TREAT PANIC DISORDER?
Panic Disorder is a treatable disease. Today, there are two types of treatments, the effectiveness of which has been proven by scientific research. These:
1. Drug therapy,
2. Cognitive-behavioral therapy
1. Drug Treatment:
In the treatment of Panic Disorder, drugs that prevent panic attacks by correcting the hormonal activities in the brain nerve cells are used. Currently, there are a large number of drugs that are good for this disease in our country. By choosing one of these drugs, your doctor will recommend that you start with a small dose and increase the dose as necessary with regular checks. After at least one year of drug therapy, it will be gradually tapered and discontinued.
2. Cognitive-behavioral therapy:
This treatment method has two purposes:
1. It is aimed to correct the patient’s misinformation and beliefs about Panic Attack symptoms, which are actually completely “harmless”, and to teach the patient to cope with these symptoms without fear.
2. Panic Attack It is aimed to gradually compare the places and situations that he avoids to be alone because he is afraid of the future, so that he can “go over” his fears and overcome his fears. In this treatment, the doctor gives the patient activities that the patient cannot do due to fear and panic, such as going out, going to the market, getting into the vehicles, as “practice assignments”, starting from the simplest ones, within a plan. As the patient becomes able to do the simple ones, they go through the difficult ones and the exercises are continued until all the feared situations are over.
THE BEST RESULTS ARE GIVEN BY APPLICATION OF THESE TWO TYPES OF TREATMENTS TOGETHER.
