Panic disorder affects 5 percent of the population. The chief symptoms are a fast pulse, a heart that feels like it's going to pound out of your chest, and a feeling that you can't get enough air, even though you are hyperventilating. The sensation of this is pure terror. It lasts around 15 minutes, but that's enough time to make you think that something very bad is happening to you. Often, these patients end up in the emergency room of a local hospital.
The presenting symptoms also get the attention of the emergency room physician. He or she considers a heart attack as the primary diagnosis. Blood is drawn, enzymes studied and EKG ordered. But it's not a heart problem, it's a panic attack.
If panic attacks are not properly diagnosed and treated, they recur. They come back again and again. Patients tend to avoid the place and or situation they were in when they had a panic attack. If it's crossing a bridge, they learn to avoid bridges, if it's in a church, they avoid churches. If they had a panic attack while in a car, they avoid driving.
Finally, the only safe place is home, they avoid the marketplace. This is called agoraphobia. Patients are confined to their homes, when they leave home, they experience the terror of panic attacks.
That's all bad news. The good news is that when panic attacks are diagnosed correctly and treated correctly, symptoms go away. Patients who were confined to their homes are set free. They can go where they want to, anxiety free. Treatment can really change lives.
Schizophrenia Package