panic disorder

behavior

increased risk of suicidality

avoidance behavior

agoraphobia

primary and secondary gain

automatisms

depersonalization

derealization

disorganized thoughts and loss of rational thinking

confusion and disorientation

self-blaming and consumed with worry

insomnia

doesn’t eat or eats too much

avoidance behavior

the memory off the panic attack, couple with the fear of having more can lead to this

agoraphobia

feeling of not wanting to leave a safe space

primary gain

relief of anxiety achieved by performing the specific anxiety-driven behavior

secondary gain

when others are paying attention, they feed off their attention in a negative way

automatisms

repetitive movements

depersonalization

not connected to themselves

derealization

sensing things are not real, what’s going on in their mind

definition

composed of discrete episodes of panic attacks, that is, 25-30 minutes of rapid, intense, escalating anxiety in which the person experiences great emotional fear as well as physiological discomfort

diagnosing

discrete episode of panic attacks, no stimulants for panic response

must display 4+ concerning symptoms

recurrent, unexpected panic attack, followed by at least 1 month of persistent concern or worry about future attacks that it will happen again (excessive worry)

concerning symptoms

chest pain, SOB, palpitations, tremors, sweating, dizzy or lightheadedness, paresthesia, hot flashes, nausea, chills, and abdominal pain