Panic Disorder

Women's Mental Health Home > Mental Health Conditions > Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. Other types of anxiety disorders include generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, social phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorders. Women are affected with this condition twice as often as men.

Panic attacks are the most common symptom of this disorder. A person is having a panic attack when they feel:

feelings of terror that strike suddenly and repeatedly with no warning
chest pain
difficulty breathing
flushes or chills
fear of losing control
fear of dying

Because these attacks are so unpredictable, many women may have intense anxiety between panic attacks. While most attacks last a few minutes on average, sometimes they can last as long as 10 minutes. In rare cases, they may last an hour or more.

Early treatment can help keep the disease from progressing to its later stages, and people can learn effective ways to live with this disorder. Medications; cognitive therapy (to change or get rid of destructive thought patterns); behavioral therapy (to change a person's behavior); or some combination of these treatments can bring much most people who suffer from panic disorder and other anxiety disorders.

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Additional Resources

Publications

Mental Health Services Locator - This internet site can help you locate mental health treatment facilities and support services in your state.
http://mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/databases/default.asp
Panic Disorder - This publication provides information about panic disorders, what they are, how they are treated, co-existing conditions and more.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/healthinformation/panicmenu.cfm
Panic Disorder, A Real Illness - This material may be of special use to those who need information written in easy-to-understand language about the symptoms and methods of treatment for panic disorders.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/NIMHpanic.cfm
Traditional Therapies - This fact sheet gives a brief description of the variety of approaches mental health professionals use to give people new tools to deal with ingrained, troublesome patterns of behavior and to help them manage symptoms of mental illness.
http://www.mentalhealth.org/publications/allpubs/ken98-0053/default.asp
Panic Disorder (Copyright © NAMI) - This fact sheet covers the causes and symptoms and treatment options for panic disorders
http://www.nami.org/helpline/panic.htm
Panic Disorder Self-Test (Copyright © ADAA) - Take this test to see if you suffer from panic disorder.
http://www.adaa.org/GettingHelp/SelfHelpTests/selftest_Panic.asp
Panic Disorder: Panic Attacks and Agoraphobia (Copyright © AAFP) - This on-line resource provides information on panic disorders, including what will happen during an attack and things you can do to relieve an attack. Panic disorder is a common condition in which a person has sudden episodes of intense fear or anxiety often without any warning.
http://familydoctor.org/137.xml

Organizations

= Indicates Federal Resources

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