Anxiety and Panic Disorders
Generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, is characterized by persistent, excessive, and unrealistic worry about everyday things. This worry occurs on more days than not for at least six months. People with GAD feel that worrying is beyond their control and they are powerless to stop it. When there is no reason for concern, people with GAD often expect the worst. Unrelenting worry is often about health, family, money, or work, and it can interfere with all aspects of a person’s life.
Panic attacks are sudden feelings of terror that strike without warning. These episodes can occur at any time, even during sleep. A person experiencing a panic attack may believe that he or she is having a heart attack or that death is imminent. The fear and terror that a person experiences during a panic attack are not in proportion to the true situation and may be unrelated to what is happening around them. Most people with panic attacks experience several of the following symptoms:
- Rapid heartbeat or “Racing” heart
- Feeling weak, faint, or dizzy
- Tingling or numbness in the hands and fingers
- Sense of terror, of impending doom or death
- Feeling sweaty or having chills
- Chest pains
- Breathing difficulties
- Feeling a loss of control
Panic attacks are generally brief, lasting less than ten minutes, although some of the symptoms may persist for a longer time. People who have had one panic attack are at greater risk for having subsequent panic attacks than those who have never experienced a panic attack. When the attacks occur repeatedly, a person is considered to have a condition known as Panic Disorder.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
People with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) suffer from unwanted and intrusive thoughts that they can’t seem to get out of their heads (obsessions), often compelling them to repeatedly perform ritualistic behaviors and routines (compulsions) to try and ease their anxiety.
Most people who have OCD are aware that their obsessions and compulsions are irrational, yet they feel powerless to stop them. Some spend hours at a time performing complicated rituals involving hand-washing, counting, or checking to ward off persistent, unwelcome thoughts, feelings, or images. Others live in fear that their thoughts will cause harm to someone or that they will blurt out an improper statement or throw something out by mistake.
Obsessions and rituals can substantially interfere with a person’s normal routine, schoolwork, job, family, or social activities. Several hours every day may be spent focusing on obsessive thoughts and performing seemingly senseless rituals. Trying to concentrate on regular daily activities may be difficult. If left untreated, OCD can interfere with all aspects of one’s life. Calling the Lawyers’ Assistance Program can be the first step to taking back control of your life.
Common obsessions
- Constant, irrational worry about dirt, germs, or contamination
- Excessive concern with order, arrangement, or symmetry
- Fear that negative or blasphemous thoughts or images will cause personal harm or harm to a loved one
- Preoccupation with losing or throwing away objects with little or no value
- Excessive concern about accidentally or purposefully injuring another person
- Feeling overly responsible for the safety of others
- Distasteful religious and sexual thoughts or images
- Doubting that is irrational or excessive
Common compulsions - Cleaning: Repeatedly washing hands, bathing, or cleaning household items, often for hours at a time
- Checking: Checking and rechecking, several to hundreds of times a day, that the doors are locked, the stove is turned off, the hairdryer is unplugged, etc.
- Repeating: Inability to stop repeating a name, phrase, or tune
- Hoarding: Difficulty throwing away useless items such as old newspapers or magazines, bottle caps or rubber bands
- Touching and arranging items
- Mental rituals: Endless reviewing of conversations, counting, repetitively calling up “good” thoughts to neutralize “bad” thoughts or obsessions; or excessive praying and using special words or phrases to neutralize obsessions
Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is diagnosed in people who experience spontaneous, seemingly out-of-the-blue panic attacks, and are preoccupied with the fear of a recurring attack. Panic attacks occur unexpectedly, sometimes even during sleep.
A panic attack is defined as the abrupt onset of intense fear that reaches a peak within a few minutes and includes at least four of the following symptoms:
- Feelings of imminent danger
- The need to escape
- Heart palpitations
- Sweating
- Shaking
- Shortness of breath or feeling as if choking
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Nausea or abdominal discomfort
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- A sense of things being unreal
- Fear of losing control or “going crazy”
- Fear of dying
- Tingling sensation
- Chills or heat flashes
Since many of the symptoms of panic disorder mimic those of illnesses such as heart disease, thyroid problems, and breathing disorders, people with panic disorder often make many visits to emergency rooms or doctors’ offices, convinced they have a life-threatening illness. It often takes months or years and a great deal of frustration before receiving the correct diagnosis.
Panic disorder typically develops in early adulthood and is three times more common in women than in men. Many people do not know that their disorder is real and highly responsive to treatment. Some are afraid or embarrassed to tell anyone, including their doctors and loved ones, about what they experience for fear of being considered a hypochondriac. Instead they suffer in silence, distancing themselves from friends, family, and others who could be helpful or supportive.
The disorder often occurs with other mental and physical disorders, including other anxiety disorders, depression, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, or substance abuse. This may complicate of getting a correct diagnosis.
Anxiety disorders are real, serious, and treatable. Experts believe that anxiety disorders are caused by a combination of biological and environmental factors, much like other disorders, such as heart disease and diabetes.
The vast majority of people with an anxiety disorder can be helped with professional care. Success of treatment varies among people. Some may respond to treatment after a few months, while others may need more than a year. Treatment is sometimes complicated by the fact that people very often have more than one anxiety disorder or may suffer from depression or substance abuse. This is why treatment must be tailored to the individual.