Panic Disorder Essay

1215 Words3 Pages

Description of Panic Disorder Everyone at some point have experience fear due to a situation that overwhelms us. This is an essential response of our bodies that can help us survive. However, when these fears are constant, they can disable an individual. Panic disorder (PD) it’s a mental illness that leads a person to have recurring panic attacks, (Strickland, 2001). Panic attacks in people with PD arise unexpectedly, situationally predisposed and / or by situations that remind them experienced dreadful events. PD can be categorized under two types: PD with or without agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is the fear of being in a situation or place in which the person thinks that would be difficult or embarrassing to escape. Some individuals develop agoraphobia after the first episodes of panic attacks; others acquire it years later, (Key, 2012). PD usually emerges during the early to mid-twenty years of age and can affect any person regardless of their ethnicity. Still, the condition usually manifests more in certain groups. Women are two times more likely to develop PD than men. In males, African Americans are more prone to develop this disorder than Hispanics or Whites, (Key, 2012). Young people (18 to 21 years old) are three times more prone to have panic attacks if in addition have psychoticism (antisocial traits as cruelty and rejection of societal norms). This group regularly develops other mental disorders (depression and social phobias) and bad habits (alcohol or drug dependency) that aggravate PD, (Goodwin, Fergusson, & Horwood, 2004). The impact of PD in veterans is usually greater than in any other group. About 2.7% of individuals in a given year will suffer from PD, with occurrence rates of 6.1% to 8.3% among veterans, (Barre... ... middle of paper ... ...hiatry, 54(3), 256-261. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.comppsych.2012.09.001 Choy, Y. (2008). Treatment planning for panic disorder: Evidence-based treatments. Psychiatric Times, 25(2), 40-44,46. Retrieved July 4, 2014 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/204570274?accountid=35796 Goodwin, R. D., Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (2004). Panic attacks and psychoticism. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 161(1), 88-92. Retrieved July 14, 2014 from http://search.proquest.com/docview/220493290?accountid=35796 Key, K. (2012). The Gale Encyclopedia of Mental Health (3rd ed., Vol. 2., pp. 109-111). Detroit, MI: Gale Cengage Learning. Mental Disorders in America. (2006). Retrieved July 17, 2014, from http://www.thekimfoundation.org/html/about_mental_ill/statistics.html Strickland, B. R. (2001). The gale encyclopedia of psychology. (2nd ed.) Detroit, MI: Gale Group.

More about Panic Disorder Essay

Open Document