Essay on Panic Disorder Prevalence in Primary Care: Addressing Mental Health Needs

Introduction

In contemporary society, between 1.6 to 3.8 percent of the entire population around the world suffer from panic disorder (Francis et al., 2007). Primarily, these individuals are presented to primary care settings because of symptoms such as shortness in breath, chest pain, dizziness and more. The prevalence of panic disorder in primary health care is higher than in the general population. People who experience panic disorders also have other mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. In the US, one out of six adults between the ages of 18 to 54 exhibit panic disorder related signs (Francis et al., 2007). These symptoms interfere with their daily lives and even last longer. People with panic disorders experience some attacks, which makes them believe that they are going crazy. Also, they experience attacks related to discomfort and fear, for instance, they feel like they are dying. In a real sense, they do not know about what is going on and at many times they are afraid to tell someone about the condition even though it may be helpful. In this paper, the focus is to discuss in detail the characteristics, types, risk factors, causes and effects, and treatment of the panic disorder.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Symptoms of Panic Disorder

Anybody is likely to experience gut-wrenching fear when faced with a dangerous or threatening situation. For instance, if someone screams in the crowd, panic will send chills down to the spine hence causing the heart to beat wildly. However, panic attacks occur unexpectedly particularly when asleep. People who experience such attacks are thoughtful about fear or threatening situations. According to research, it starts to develop early in adulthood although it affects two percent of adults (Francis et al., 2007). Some of the characteristics of panic disorder include high heart rate, fear of dying, abnormal distress, shaking, sweating, tingling sensations, feelings of choking, feelings of depression, chest pain, discomfort, fear of going crazy, feelings of dizziness and more.

Types of Panic Disorder

There are two types of panic attacks, expected panic attacks and unexpected panic attacks. To start with, research by Taylor (2006) highlighted that expected panic attacks are those with an obvious trigger. These attacks occur to a person due to situations where previous panic attacks have befallen. For example, a person who has a fear of heights will experience feel susceptible when going through a cliff. Unexpected panic disorders occur without any known reason; a person shows signs of anxiety and fear automatically, but no link can be used to explain the cause, for example, children during the adolescence stage are more likely prone to panic attacks.

Risk Factors

Temperament is the first risk factor that is associated with panic disorders. According to research done by Perez-Edgar and Fox (2005) people that have a history of fear and anxiety have a high likelihood of developing panic disorder. Temperament characteristics are rationally derived in that the symptoms begin early from childhood. Some behavioral phenotype starts to develop and this has an impact on socioemotional development. Children experience a sense of uncontrollability, especially in situations of danger and other upcoming negative events. This danger maladaptive behavior makes it difficult for the children to regulate their emotional responses a threatening stimulus. The state of anxiety experienced is beyond the normal level because it includes social phobia, traumatic stress disorder to mention but a few. The anxiety produces large individual burden because it limits a person to interact and feel free of excess worry and fear. This creates a burden of enduring behavior across time and space and this later in life links to more complex problems characterized by signs of shyness, inhibition, and social withdrawal.

The other risk factor is the environment and this applies to children who in their early lives experienced physical or sexual abuse. Perez-Edgar and Fox (2005) highlighted that the environment where a child was brought up determines whether he will live a life of discomfort/worry or not. Children who are abused when young, are more likely to experience panic attacks and other related health complications. Literature by xxx avows that the environment can influence the negative behavior and the emergence of anxiety. For this reason, a link appears between the parents and the parenting styles in day to day interactions. For instance, children are physically abused by their mothers have high levels of anxiety-related behavior than those raised in a stable and normal way. Characteristics that shape behavior begin to act at the early stage of life. Many of these factors are linked to parental insensitivity and parental history of abusive relationships with the children (Perez-Edgar & Fox, 2005). Also, children who were sexually assaulted are more likely to shows signs such as high fear, discomfort, shaking and more when they meet their romantic partners later in life. A long line of research has documented that later adjustment of panic attacks will not be easy due to the behavior that is linked to the emergence of anxiety during childhood.

Causes and Effects of Panic Disorder

There is no exact cause of the panic disorder. However, research proposes that the combination of an individual's biology and the environmental factors can contribute to the development of the disorder (Francis et al., 2007). From the terrifying symptoms of the disorder, the attacks affect many people psychologically, socially, and psychically. Even if a person is in the crowd, he develops a fear of having a panic attack. The person becomes frightened, debilitated and disrupted. Also, the disorder contributes to the emergence of other health problems. For example, patients with panic disorders were observed to develop breathing disorders and other illnesses. Patients are forced to make emergency visits to the doctor because they are convinced that they have a life-threatening illness. Moreover, some people are afraid of sharing what they are experiencing with others because they feel that they may be embarrassed. Instead, they distance themselves from friends and family and this affects them; they are even forced to remain silent most of the time.

Treatment of Panic Disorder

There is no right treatment that works for all panic disorders; what works for one person may not work for another. However, people who seek treatment when signs of panic disorder show up experience a better quality of life (Taylor, 2006). Starting with primary care, many treatment options have proven to be effective. Some of them include cognitive behavioral therapy and psychotherapy. The short term treatment requires patients to learn skills that can aid in thinking and changing behavior patterns. Also, relaxation and breathing techniques have proven to be effective in the treatment of panic disorder. Finally, doctors can prescribe medications depending on the level of the disease.

Conclusion

Panic disorders can negatively impact one's life if the diagnosis will not be applied. For instance, symptoms such as fear of dying, abnormal distress, shaking, sweating, tingling sensations, feelings of choking, to mention but a few may be stressful and cause more health complications. Since there are expected and unexpected types of panic attacks, what it needs to be cared for is to obtain medication.

References

Francis, J. L., Weisberg, R. B., Dyck, I. R., Culpepper, L., Smith, K., Edelen, M. O., & Keller, M. B. (2007). Characteristics and course of panic disorder and panic disorder with agoraphobia in primary care patients. Primary care companion to the Journal of clinical psychiatry, 9(3), 173. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1911170/

Perez-Edgar, K., & Fox, N. A. (2005). Temperament and anxiety disorders. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics, 14(4), 681-706. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.320.4112&rep=rep1&type=pdfTaylor, C. B. (2006). Panic disorder. BMJ, 332(7547), 951-955. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1444835/