Panic Disorder Treatment
If you’ve ever had a panic attack, you know what it’s like to feel like you’re not in charge of your own body. To try and suck in air, only to feel like you’re breathing through a straw. You’re not alone in your experience. More than 48 million Americans are estimated to be living with an anxiety disorder, including panic disorder.
Our team at Oceans Healthcare is here to empower you to reclaim your life from panic attacks. Let’s take a closer look at our approach to panic disorder treatment.
The Oceans Experience
Oceans is committed to providing quality behavioral health in a safe environment. With our telehealth capabilities we can conduct therapy, education and diagnosis via phone or video. We accept Medicare, TRICARE and most private insurance.
What We Treat: Panic Disorder
A panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that causes you to have multiple unexplained panic attacks. One of the features of panic disorder is that panic attacks often happen for no specific reason and don’t have an obvious trigger. Panic attacks create a sense of impending danger and intense fear. During a panic attack, your breathing is usually constricted, and it sometimes feels like you’re dying. These attacks can easily interfere with your ability to work, socialize, or sleep. In other words, panic attacks can prevent you from living a full and active life.
Not everyone who experiences panic attacks will develop a panic disorder. People living with panic disorder will experience multiple panic attacks. For some people, this means they have multiple panic attacks a day. Others might have a couple of panic attacks a year.
With treatment, you don’t need to live in fear of your next panic attack.
How We Treat: Therapies and Medications
There are multiple methods for treating panic disorder. At Oceans Healthcare, we’ll work with you to determine what mode of treatment works best for you. We’ll tailor your treatments to fit your specific needs.
We use multiple tools for treating panic disorders, including:
- Anti-anxiety medications. Medication is an important tool for many people managing panic disorder. Serotonin-selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are both commonly used to treat panic disorder. Anti-anxiety medications, like benzodiazepines, can also be effective when taken as prescribed. These medications work best when combined with therapy. We also recognize that medication isn’t right for everyone in every case.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In this type of therapy, you’ll work with your therapist to develop a better understanding of the relationship between your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Over time, you’ll learn to recognize harmful or distorted thought patterns and how they make you feel. Together, you and your therapist will find coping strategies that reduce or eliminate your panic attacks.
- Panic-focused psychodynamic psychotherapy. This specific style of therapy is designed for people with panic disorders. In panic-focused psychodynamic therapy, you and your therapist will work through the trauma from childhood and early life that contributes to the panic attacks you experience. By working through the traumas you experienced while your brain was still developing, you learn to feel safer in your present environment.
- Multiple levels of care. At Oceans Healthcare, we provide treatment options to meet the intensity of care you need. If you need 24/7 care, our inpatient treatment is the right option for you. If four to five hours of treatment during the day meet your needs, you would be a good fit for our partial hospitalization program (PHP). Our intensive outpatient program (IOP) is the best fit for people who need treatment in the evening, up to four days a week.
STAR military program. Our STAR military program is available at certain locations. It is specifically designed for military members and their families. We provide you with a military liaison for a seamless transition, a schedule based on military time, and a staff that’s trained in military culture.
What Causes Panic Disorder?
More research is necessary to understand the specific causes of panic disorders. We believe that multiple factors play a part in how panic disorder develops.
Three major factors that are believed to lead to the development of panic disorder include:
- Family History: Panic disorder and other anxiety disorders typically run in families. If you have a close relative with a panic disorder, such as a sibling, parent, or child, you are much more likely to have it yourself. There is likely a genetic component to panic disorder, but there is not a specific gene that causes panic disorders.
- Dysfunction of the amygdala: The amygdala is the part of the brain that controls how you respond to fear. Researchers believe that people with an overactive amygdala experience more panic attacks than someone whose amygdala functions normally.
- Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs): There is a link between painful childhoods and the development of panic disorder. If you experienced abuse as a child, you’re more likely to develop panic disorder than people without a history of abuse. Other examples of ACEs include things like bullying or the sudden loss of a family member.
What Triggers a Panic Attack?
You might not have something specific that triggers your panic attacks. That’s normal, and you can work with a therapist to develop skills to manage panic attacks when they do happen. In some cases, panic attacks are triggered when you’re confronted with an extremely overwhelming environment or an intense fear. For example, someone with arachnophobia (fear of spiders) might have a panic attack when they see a spider.
One of the criteria for panic disorder is that your panic attacks do not have a clear trigger. People with panic disorder can fall into a vicious cycle where the simple fear of having a panic attack leads to a panic attack.
Identifying Signs and Symptoms of Panic Disorder
As stated above, people with panic disorder have multiple unexpected panic attacks. Usually, this leads to an extreme fear of panic attacks. If you have a panic disorder, you worry about when you’ll have your next panic attack and where it might happen. You’ll avoid places and situations where you’re afraid that a panic attack could occur.
Common symptoms of panic attacks include:
- Tremors and shaking
- Racing heart
- Hot flashes
- Chills
- Difficulty breathing or hyperventilating
- Feeling like there’s a heavy weight on your chest
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Tingling or numbness in your extremities
- Dizziness or sudden feelings of weakness
- Feeling like you’re going to die
- Feeling like you’re being choked or smothered
- A sense of intense terror
- A sense that the world around you isn’t real (derealization) or that you’re not real (depersonalization)
If you’ve had a panic attack before, these symptoms are probably pretty familiar. If you’ve never had a panic attack yourself but are with someone else who’s having one, there are a few steps you can take to help them. Be reassuring and talk to them using simple, straightforward language. Remind them that these symptoms are temporary and help them focus on their breathing.
How Panic Disorder Is Diagnosed
A medical professional will diagnose panic disorder based on the criteria in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5).
The three main criteria for panic disorder include:
- Having repeated, unexplained panic attacks.
- Consistently worrying about having more panic attacks and what will happen because of them.
- Avoiding situations or behaviors that you believe will cause you to have a panic attack.
As part of the diagnostic process, your doctor will rule out any other potential causes of your panic attacks. This includes testing for an underlying medical condition. You’ll also be evaluated for other mental health conditions, like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to see if there’s another explanation for your condition.
Seek Help for Panic Disorder Today in Dixieland
Panic disorder can feel limiting. You spend time worrying about when you’ll have your next panic attack and where it will happen. If you’re like most people living with the condition, you probably avoid going places where you think you might have a panic attack. There’s no shame in that. You’re coping the best way you know how. With treatment, you can live without fear.
Developing tools to prepare yourself for panic attacks when they happen is the first step towards feeling more confident in your ability to navigate the condition. With time and effort, your panic disorder will improve.
At Ocean’s Healthcare, we’ll empower you to take control of your panic disorder and manage your symptoms. Every one of our programs is overseen by a board-certified psychiatrist, ensuring the highest quality of care. We also foster a collaborative environment, so you’ll have a whole team of clinical professionals assisting you throughout your journey. Contact us now at 888-293-6899.
Oceans Healthcare: Your Path, Our Purpose.