Posts Tagged ‘Severity’

The Significance Of Educating People On Preventing Eating Disorders

In the recent decades attention has been turned to eating disorders, how common they are, and how they can be stopped. Eating disorders are classified into three different types: anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating. All three are equally dangerous and have severe consequences. Doctors can usually tell who is at risk for an eating disorder.

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Understanding the Meaning of Agoraphobia from an Ex-Sufferer

There are two things that are apparent when you start to seek a definition for agoraphobia and that is that, depending on where you look, there is more than just one definition. If we take a look in a dictionary, we will find that the interpretation given there is similar to the following: a disease which results in the sufferer being afraid of open or public spaces which, can result in the sufferer becoming housebound.

The second usual definition goes something like this: An anxiety disorder where the sufferer lives in fear of finding themselves in an embarrassing situation from which there is no escape. More advanced agoraphobics may, indeed, become confined to their home in order to avoid any such discomfort occurring whilst in public.

We can see that the result of being housebound is the same in both definitions, how the sufferer becomes housebound, though, is quite different. So, let’s compare both definitions to the real-life experiences of an agoraphobic.

I became an agoraphobic more than twenty years ago, following a series of panic attacks that occurred whilst I was travelling. At that time, my phobia was only connected to travel by any mode of transport that I chose: car, train, bus etc. but walking around outside posed no threat whatsoever. However, as the years progressed so did the severity of the condition and eventually, after around 18 years or so, I became totally housebound.

So, what is it that can make an agoraphobic’s life so limited? I’ll try to explain as best I can. But, if after reading this you can’t quite grasp the whole concept, don’t worry, most health professionals that I’ve consulted over the years couldn’t grasp it either.

As an agoraphobic, I lived in fear of when my next panic attack would strike. I was lucky, in one respect, in that I’ve never had a panic attack whilst within the confines of my home. However, I do know of other agoraphobics that do suffer them at home, sometimes quite frequently. For me, there was a fear bigger than the fear of having yet another panic attack and that was of having a massive panic attack that left me in a condition whereupon I could no longer stand up and walk or would result in some uncontrollable and embarrassing emotional outburst.

Knowing that certain situations could trigger my panic fuelled the second part of my condition. Being in heavy traffic made me feel very panicky and uncomfortable or standing still and not progressing forward on public transport had the same effect. So any thought of such an encounter brought on my “what if” syndrome. I’d be travelling down a road where the traffic was light and flowing freely when a thought such as: “I hope the traffic isn’t backed up at this or that road intersection” would enter my head and this would get me “what ifing”. “What if the traffic is backed up and we’re stuck there for twenty minutes and what if I have a panic attack and what if I can’t get to work and can’t get home?” This kind of thinking had just one outcome; it made me scared. And being scared and away from my safe zone just brought on my panic. This was one of the worst parts of my agoraphobia; me thinking my way into a panic attack.

Agoraphobia and its partners in crime, panic attacks and anxiety, stole everything that made my life good. But it didn’t stop there. It’s effects upon me altered the lives of my family and friends too. Having recovered from this nightmare existance, it’s only now that I can look back and see just how debilitating this condition truly is.

Signs And Symptoms Of Panic Attacks

Some of the most serious signs and symptoms of panic attacks can be quite frightening and at times can even lead the person experiencing the attack to believe they might be dying. It is not at all uncommon for an individual suffering from a panic attack to believe they are going crazy, losing control or about to have a heart attack due to the severity of these symptoms. One of the first steps to overcoming panic attacks; however, is learning to recognize these signs and symptoms.

In the quest to overcome these attacks, it is also important to understand the dynamics of panic attacks. For example, the presence of a panic attack itself could be an indication of the medical condition Panic Anxiety Disorder. While not all symptoms indicate the presence of an attack, there are numerous signs and symptoms that are commonly associated with panic attacks. It is important to be aware that in some cases medical ailments could produce the same signs and symptoms of a panic attack. A life threatening situation could also produce similar symptoms; although, this type of situation could also certainly precede a panic attack as well.

Panic attacks typically last about ten or less. For the person experiencing the attack this can feel like an eternity. Generally, the attack will reach its maximum intensity level within about a minute or so of the attack beginning. Over a period of about half an hour the symptoms of the attack will begin to gradually diminish. It is important to keep in mind that in some cases it could take several hours for the symptoms to completely diminish.

In some cases, panic attacks can occur as a single incidence with no recurrence. In other cases, attacks may happen more frequently; even up to several times per month. Typically, the severity of the signs and symptoms of the panic attack will vary.

Symptoms associated with panic attacks include:

 Feeling extremely stressed
 Experiencing a sense of paralyzing fear
 Hot flashes
 Sudden chills
 Choking sensation
 Chest pains
 Tingling in the fingers or toes
 A fear that you are dying or going crazy
 Difficulty breathing
 Feeling as though you can’t get enough air
 Racing heartbeat
 Feeling dizzy, lightheaded
 Experiencing a feeling of dread,
 Nausea
 Trembling, shaking or sweating
 Feeling nervous

The mere presence of one or even two or three of these symptoms does not necessarily indicate a panic attack has occurred or even that an individual suffers from Panic Disorder. As previously discussed, there could be another reasonable explanation for the presence of the symptoms, such as an entirely different medical condition.

Not all individuals suffer from the same symptoms each time they experience a panic attack. During one attack one set of symptoms may be present while another, different, set of symptoms may appear during a subsequent attack. In addition, it is likely that the severity of the signs and symptoms of panic attacks may range from one attack to the next as well.