Written By: Shraddha Rupavate | Updated : September 25, 2014 4:29 PM IST
Dipti was a 32 year old marketing manager, who often felt stressed out due to work pressure. In addition to her increasing work load, she was also trying hard to cope up with her personal life after the death of her father. She avoided meeting people because she used to fear, feel dizzy and breathless on a lot of occasions. One fine day at work she suddenly felt weak and nauseous. She felt sharp pain in her chest coupled with numbness in her arm, shortness of breath and palpitations. By the time she was driven to the hospital by her colleagues, she was unconscious.
What Dipti had was nothing but a severe panic attack. Panic attacks can be frightening and can greatly interfere with a person's daily life. People may suffer from symptoms over a period of several months without even realizing. But proper diagnosis and early treatment are important for preventing further relapses. In this article, we explain everything about panic attacks with inputs from our expert Dr Anshu Kulkarni, consultant psychiatrist at S. L Raheja- Fortis Hospital.
Why and when do panic attacks occur?
Panic attacks are quite common because we all have to go through various levels of anxiety throughout the life. But sometimes anxiety may reach an intense level when the person has to cope up with difficult, dangerous or fearful situations in life. At that point it starts interfering with everything you do. Dr Kulkarni explains 'Panic attacks may occur out of the blue as in panic disorder. They may also happen related to certain situations or with an unpleasant stimulus in environment. Common situations that may trigger panic attacks include:
When panic attacks occur frequently and affect a person's lifestyle for more than a month, the condition is called panic disorder.'
What are the symptoms of panic attacks?
Symptoms can be variable but most people who experience panic attacks have the following signs
'As said earlier if panic attacks happen frequently and a person stays with constant fear of getting another attack for a duration of more than a month, it warrants evaluation from a professional,' says Dr Kulkarni.
Is the condition life-threatening?
'Not really. Panic attacks often resemble the symptoms of heart attack and induce so much discomfort that it is perceived as life threatening, though it is not. As a result such patients generally land up in a cardiologist's clinic.'
What are the treatment options and prevention measures?
'There are certain antidepressants and anxiolytics available to treat panic disorder. But along with medication, patients should also undergo therapy to prevent future relapses,' says Dr Kulkarni. Here are some tips to prevent panic attacks:
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