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What are the symptoms of panic disorder?

Panic disorder is when your regular panic attacks - which include symptoms such as a pounding heartbeat, sweating, shaking, chest pain, nausea, feelings of unreality and fear of dying - cause you to worry about them or about other people noticing them and cause you to change your behavior in the hope of avoiding the panic attacks, or of people noticing them.

FAQ Frequently asked questions

What is panic disorder?

Panic disorder is diagnosed when panic attacks happen regularly, when they cause you worry and disrupt your daily life.

What causes panic disorder?

It is not known what exactly causes panic disorder. It is thought that panic attacks are caused by problems in the circuitry of the brain that controls the physical response to stress.

Who gets panic disorder?

Panic disorder is usually first experienced in adolescence and young adulthood. Women are twice as likely as men to have panic disorder.

How is panic disorder diagnosed?

Your doctor will likely take your medical history and perform a physical examination.

How is panic disorder treated?

Panic disorder can be treated by medication as well as by psychotherapy.

Can panic disorder be cured?

Treatment can help panic disorder. In some cases the disorder is completely managed, while in others, treatment helps reduce (but not eliminate completely) the frequency and severity of symptoms.

Will panic disorder clear on its own?

Panic disorder rarely clears on its own.

Can panic disorder be prevented?

Panic disorder cannot be prevented before it occurs.

Is panic disorder serious?

Panic disorder can in some cases cause significant disruption to a persona's life.

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About this article

Author: Dr Idan Ben-Barak PhD, MSc, BSc (Med)
First answered: 15 Jul 2015
Last reviewed: 19 May 2018
Rating: 4.6 out of 5
Votes: 1243 (Click smiley face below to rate)
Category: Premenstrual dysphoric disorder

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