DESCRIPTION
At some point in their life everyone has panicked, usually with good reason, and this is perfectly normal. However in panic disorders a harmless and normal situation will create the same response and an intense attack of terror and apprehension.
CAUSES
When a person with a phobia or panic disorder comes into or will come into contact with the thing they are frightened of they will develop physical symptons of anxiety. With general anxiety disorders it is not clear to the person what they are anxious about. Common phobias are social phobias, agoraphobia, blood and flying.
SYMPTOMS
Symptoms of general anxiety disorders are depression, lack of sleep, lack of patience and persistant worrying about one subject. Physical symptoms of all three disorders (general anxiety, panic disorders & phobias) consist of frequent urinating, headaches, dizziness, dry mouth, chest pains, fast heartbeat and difficulty catching breath.
PREVALENCE AND SUSCEPTIBILITY
Up to ten percent of the population will experience a simple phobia such as a phobia of blood, flying or dentists. Social phobia, which is twice as common in women than in men, affects 2.5% of the population each year. Panic disorder is also more frequently diagnosed in women and affects 1-3% of the population each year.
TREATMENT
The first step in treating any of the three types is to try to break the cycle that builds up when anxiety occurs. The main method of doing this is to learn relaxation techniques- these techniques will not be acquired easily and will take practice. This will reduce the severity of the physical symptoms. Positive changes in lifestyle will also decrease the severity of symptoms, taking regular exercise and reducing caffeine, nocotine and alcohol levels is often the best therapy. However, changes should be made slowly to minimise demands on time as this could cause more anxiety.
The main way you could help someone close to you is to support them in making the above changes but avoid making too many demands on their available time and patience.