Panic Disorder, Anxiety Disorder - Definitions and Differences

Fear and anxiety are experiences that everyone has from time to time. Fear is a response, behavioral, emotional and physical to an event, immediately recognized as an external threat (oncoming car). Anxiety is a unpleasant, distressing state of uneasiness and nervousness. Causes of anxiety are less clear less tied to exact timing of a threat. It can occur in anticipation of a threat, continue after a threat has passed or occur with no identifiable threat. It is often accompanied by changes and behaviors similar to those caused by fear.

Anxiety can be adaptive helping one to prepare, rehearse and function in a satisfactory way. It can also help one be appropriately cautious in situations that are potentially dangerous. However, if anxiety occurs beyond a particular level, it causes dysfunction and distress. Then it is maladaptive and classified as a disorder.

So what is a disorder? What is a panic attack? What is panic disorder? What are anxiety and anxiety disorder? Is there a difference between a panic attack, panic disorder, anxiety and anxiety disorder? Much of the time, they are used interchangeably; It is easy to get confused. I found myself getting confused when I started to research various ways of treating these conditions. This article is an attempt to sort these words out.

Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder - a panic attack is a sudden, intense feeling of fear accompanied with an overwhelming sense of danger. Uncomfortable and frightening physical symptoms accompany this feeling. Some of the symptoms are: rapid heart beat (am I having a heart attack?), rapid breathing, (I can't get my breath;am I suffocating?), profuse sweating, Once someone has a panic attack, it is very likely they will experience another one so that panic attacks may occur repeatedly. They then feel anxiety about having another attack.

PanicBuster.com was created by anxiety treatment expert David Mellinger, MSW (RESUME). Click on the link to learn more about anxiety, worry, phobias, and obsessions and compulsions (OCD).