Panic Disorder May Elude Patient To Suicide: Psychiatrist

HYDERABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 17th Nov, 2016 ) : Moments of anxiety or panic disorder is a condition in which a patient feels sudden over-whelming fright, usually without any reasonable cause and one out of 5 people suffering from panic disorder attempts suicide.

consultant psychiatrist and chairman department of Psychiatry Liaqat university of Medical & Health Sciences (LUMHS), Dr Moin Ansari while talking to APP on Thursday, said that the panic attack is generally accompanied by physical symptoms, such as a pounding heart, sweating, and rapid breathing and a patient with panic disorder may have repeated panic attacks and feel constant fear as to when the next attack will occur.

He said that most people experience moments of anxiety and they worry about money, their job, the future, or some other issue but panic disorder is far more serious. He said it is a chronic (long lasting) crippling condition that can have a devastating impact on a person's family, work, and social life.

He said that the panic attacks usually last only a few seconds or minutes but they are terrifying. He said that people who have experienced a panic attack begin to wonder and worry about when the next attack will occur.

He said that the many people with panic disorder develop fears about situations they associate with panic attacks and begin to avoid. He said that panic disorder can radically impair family, work, and social relationships and patients may lose their jobs and independence.

Dr Ansari said that people with the disorder may also suffer from clinical depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or irritable bowel syndrome. According to one study, 20 percent of people with panic disorder attempt suicide, he said.

About the causes of the panic disorder Dr Ansari said that the cause of panic disorder is not known but some authorities believe that the condition was inherited and they think that patients may have unusually sensitive nervous systems that respond inappropriately to events and surroundings.

Dr Moin defined a panic attack as an event with any four of the following symptoms including pounding, skipping, or fluttering heartbeat; shortness of breath or a sense of being smothered; dizziness or light-headedness, Nausea or stomach problems; chest pain or pressure on the chest, sweating, fear of dying and the feelings of unreality.

He informed that the first step in diagnosing panic disorder was to rule out physical disorders and some of the symptoms described also occur with medical conditions, such as heart problems. Dr Ansari said that as most mental disorders, panic disorder was treated with a combination of medication and counseling and many experts believe that panic attacks were caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters.

He informed that the neurotransmitters were chemicals that help transmitting messages between nerve cells in the brain. An excess or shortage of neurotransmitters can cause a wide variety of mental disorders.

He said that the other medications are designed to calm patients down and these medications are called antidepressants. They can often help relieve the worst symptoms of panic disorder, he added.

Dr Moin Ansari suggested the patients can also make changes in their lifestyle to reduce the risk of panic attacks and these changes include eliminating caffeine and alcohol from their diets and avoiding certain legal and illegal drugs, such as marijuana and cocaine.