If you happen to be surfing when a shark of a tsunami approaches, it would be normal to panic, try to swim away or scream. It would be a typical “flight or fight reaction.”
But when you experience bouts of overwhelming fear or anxiety without specific threats triggering it, you are likely going through a panic attack, which is suffered by between 10 and 15 percent of the population once in their lives, twice as common in women than in men. If you experience more than 4 of these anxiety events and worry about when and where the next one may happen, you might likely be diagnosed with panic disorder.
People find the first panic attack so terrifying and painful that they seldom forget it. The frequency of the attacks is a crucial factor to keep an eye on. Thus, it is essential to distinguish isolated panic attacks from panic disorder condition, which tends to materialize if your life starts to be seriously affected by fear of suffering such attacks, if you avoid specific places in case you have an attack or if you experience these unpleasant events roughly once a month, for example. A good piece of advice is to focus on what you can control. It is common for those suffering from these panic disorders to have behaviors that reduce overall wellness such as physiological discomfort, substance use disorders, and many others including eating disorders. If panic has become debilitating or affecting your quality of life, let La Jolla Recovery help you heal from anxiety-induced panic and its dual diagnosis component such as addiction.