Free Essays on Panic Attacks

Panic Attacks It rises, seemingly, out of nowhere. It is sudden, yet discrete... an intense feeling of terror. You cannot breathe, and are nearly unable to stand as you tremble with chills. Most frighteningly, your heart races, it seems that it will explode from your chest. Before you know it, though... this attack has vanished... leaving you only with the fear that you will soon be struck with another. This, contrary to what you may believe is not a heart attack, nor are you losing your mind. You have been hit by a panic attack. Frightening as this is, it is not uncommon. Ten percent of the American population will, at one time in their lives, experience a panic attack. (1). One in every 75 Americans will be afflicted with Panic Disorder in their lifetimes. (3). When you are faced with more stress than you know how to deal with, your body becomes aroused because it is being bombarded with anxiety producing stimuli. Your body is, in essence, preparing to protect itself against sudden danger, making you physically ready to react by either fighting the stressor, or fleeing from it. The brain releases powerful hormones that constrict the blood vessels in the peripheral parts of the body in order to force blood into the brain and deeper into the large muscles for added strength. In turn, your heart pounds, digestive system shuts down, breathing increases, and muscles tighten. (5). This rush of changes in your body is the cause of the intense physical discomfort experienced during a panic attack. The criteria for a panic attack is specific, to discern an attack from general affects of fear or stress. When under attack, you experience some of the following symptoms all within a very short period of time, and without warning or apparent reason. Generally, the level of fear is drastically out of proportion to the situation, or even unrelated. Panic attacks can even occur in your sleep. (3). You may experience heart palpitations, sweatin... Free Essays on Panic Attacks Free Essays on Panic Attacks Panic Attacks There are many opinions and theries concerning anxiety and panic attacks. Some believe panic attacks are caused by a person's inability to live the life they dream of, while others believe they are caused by deep rooted fear based memories that we don't want to deal with. There are as many opinions as there are "experts". I believe the true experts are the people who experience this dread called panic attacks. Everyone experiences some form of anxiety in their life, however, not everyone experiences this intense feeling of a life threating anxiety called panic attacks. In the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology, panic attacks are described as a period during which there is a sudden onset of intense terror, fear, or apprehension, accompanied by signs and symptoms such as a feeling of impending doom, a fear of going insane, shortness of breath, a choking sensation, increased heart rate and palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, dizziness, trembling, sweating, and nauseas. This description is right on target because it includes most if not all the symptoms that people have described to their doctors over the years. I chose this topic because I have first hand experience of panic attacks which are for the most part under control. I have also had family and friends that have suffered with them for years, so I can vouch for the Oxford definition. Robert Gerzon, author of " Finding Serenity in the age of anxiety". claims that we all should be anxious because it is a good thing. Gerzon feels that the problem is not anxiety, but that we're just not anxious about the right things. For example, we are anxious about finding a parking space but not that anxious about finding solutions for social injustice. This is among the more radical viewpoints. A more mainstream viewpoint is that of Joseph LeDoux. In hi... Free Essays on Panic Attacks Panic Attacks It rises, seemingly, out of nowhere. It is sudden, yet discrete... an intense feeling of terror. You cannot breathe, and are nearly unable to stand as you tremble with chills. Most frighteningly, your heart races, it seems that it will explode from your chest. Before you know it, though... this attack has vanished... leaving you only with the fear that you will soon be struck with another. This, contrary to what you may believe is not a heart attack, nor are you losing your mind. You have been hit by a panic attack. Frightening as this is, it is not uncommon. Ten percent of the American population will, at one time in their lives, experience a panic attack. (1). One in every 75 Americans will be afflicted with Panic Disorder in their lifetimes. (3). When you are faced with more stress than you know how to deal with, your body becomes aroused because it is being bombarded with anxiety producing stimuli. Your body is, in essence, preparing to protect itself against sudden danger, making you physically ready to react by either fighting the stressor, or fleeing from it. The brain releases powerful hormones that constrict the blood vessels in the peripheral parts of the body in order to force blood into the brain and deeper into the large muscles for added strength. In turn, your heart pounds, digestive system shuts down, breathing increases, and muscles tighten. (5). This rush of changes in your body is the cause of the intense physical discomfort experienced during a panic attack. The criteria for a panic attack is specific, to discern an attack from general affects of fear or stress. When under attack, you experience some of the following symptoms all within a very short period of time, and without warning or apparent reason. Generally, the level of fear is drastically out of proportion to the situation, or even unrelated. Panic attacks can even occur in your sleep. (3). You may experience heart palpitations, sweatin...