Fear can cause people to avoid certain places or situations due to anxiety or agoraphobia. It can also progress into panic attacks and anxiety, characterized by feelings of loss of control. Medical professionals can treat panic disorder with medication, psychotherapy, or both.
Untreated panic disorder can become crippling. It affects nearly all areas of an individual's life. They might become irrationally afraid of eating at a restaurant, so they never eat out. Others may avoid public transport because they fear becoming trapped and helpless.
Medications for panic disorder include antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs. They ease the severity of panic attacks and reduce feelings of anxiety. Antidepressants treat depression. They have also proven effective in treating panic disorder. Antidepressants alter the neurotransmitters, the body's chemical messengers. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are a popular class of antidepressants that target serotonin - neurotransmitters associated with mood, helping balance one’s moods, improve sleep, and reduce anxiety.
Anti-anxiety medications or tranquilizers sedate persons with anxiety. They are popular for their fast-acting mechanism. The anti-anxiety medications, such as Benzodiazepines, slow down the nervous system, helping patients feel calmer and more relaxed.
Side effects of antidepressants include decreased alertness, headaches, weight gain due to increased appetite, and agitation. Anti-anxiety medication, on the other hand, can cause dizziness, poor balance and coordination, slurred speech, and trouble concentrating. Medications also carry a risk of over-dependence and misuse.
During psychotherapy, a mental health practitioner helps the patient work through the issues that led to their developing panic disorder. Triggers of anxiety attacks, panic attacks, and agoraphobia include major changes, traumatic events, or a history of childhood physical or sexual abuse.
A therapist may also help the patient develop healthier ways of thinking about and handling the triggers and overcoming anxiety symptoms. Lifestyle changes that may help reduce symptoms of panic disorder include exercising regularly, quitting smoking, avoiding caffeine, and getting enough sleep. Calming activities like yoga, coupled with avoiding stressors, may also help.
People with panic disorder tend to view themselves and the world through a distorted, negative lens or cognitive distortion. Therefore, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), a form of psychotherapy, helps address it.
Faulty thinking and perceptions of one’s environment can produce unwarranted but crippling fear. CBT follows a process called desensitization. By exposing a patient to a trigger, something they fear, while equipping them with coping skills, a cognitive behavioral therapist can help patients confront their fears and regain control.
If someone fears flying, desensitization may start with mild exposure, like viewing images of planes. Then, it advances to greater anxiety-inducing exposure. With each exposure, patients build resilience and overcome their fear of flying. CBT helps people with panic disorder unlearn their fear and develop healthier ways of thinking about themselves and the world around them.
Some panic attack triggers become hidden, stemming from the patient’s childhood. To uncover such triggers and help one resolve them, therapists may use panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy (PFPP). PFPP seeks to get to the root cause of panic disorder by uncovering unconscious emotional conflicts and past experiences that might be predisposing them to panic attacks.
Panic disorder treatment using therapy alone or in combination with medicines has proven effective. It leads to long-term and sustainable changes. It also reduces the risk of overdependence and misuse of panic disorder medication. Therapy can be a challenging approach. It calls for confronting one's fears.
