ABOUT PANIC DISORDERS Panic disorder affects thousands of people and can be very debilitating. People with panic disorder have sudden and repeated attacks of intense fear that last for several minutes or much longer. If you think that sounds small, imagine the feeling of stepping out into the road without looking and discovering a bus is about to hit you at speed. That’s how it is, not for a merciful split second, but for minutes or longer. The subconscious mind cannot distinguish between ‘real’ and ‘theoretical’ danger which is why the symptoms are so intense. What is more, the conscious, rational mind has no hold over the subconscious, which is why knowing that a (spider, hairbrush, button, trip to the corner shop….) cannot actually inflict physical harm on you doesn’t actually help. Panic attacks are characterised by a fear of catastrophe, death or of losing control even when there is no ‘real’ danger. A person may believe they are having a heart attack and may dread the possibility of having another attack. This in turn may lead to the person’s life becoming affected by the fear. This fear of fear itself can mean that a person begins to avoid the trigger places or situations where they had the attack. They may also feel ashamed of themselves and cover the reasons for the avoidance behaviour with a ‘more acceptable’ excuse.
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 17:56:43 +0000
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