When panic attacks
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According to Dr Michael Corry, a psychiatrist who founded www.depressiondialogues.ie, panic is one of the most crippling disorders of mankind.
"A panic attack is a meltdown," he says. "It is where the levels of adrenaline get so high that there is a blow-out."
Common symptoms include: racing or pounding heartbeat; dizziness and lightheadedness; tingling in the hands, arms, feet, legs; sweaty palms, flushed face; terror, fear of losing control.
Professor Timothy Dinan (right), a psychiatrist at Cork University Hospital, says that many of his patients have been through Accident & Emergency departments before they reach his clinic.
"They become revolving-door patients. They go to a variety of physicians for investigations, and have, sometimes, expensive and time-consuming tests that come back negative. It may be a long time before they accept the idea that it may be something psychological that is wrong with them," he says.
"That is a problem. Because panic disorder is easy to treat when you catch it early on. But if they have been having untreated attacks for six or 12 months, the outcome can be much worse than if it is treated when someone has had just three or four attacks."
Panic attacks quite often lead to agoraphobia -- fear of open spaces.
Dr Aine Tubridy, author of When Panic Attacks, is often contacted by people who tell her they have not left their house for months. "It's awful," she says. "People feel defeated by panic, and that, ultimately, can lead to depression."
She often sees teenagers with panic attacks. "It can happen when they are forming their identity," she says. "With the stresses teens have now, panic attacks have become more commonplace. Teens need approval from their peers."
Alcohol and drugs don't help. "People on mind-altering drugs may then get panic attacks," says Dr Tubridy. "They may not like that blurring of boundaries. They panic, then think they have done some damage to their brain. They feel they can't confide in their parents."
For patients with agoraphobia, Homelink, run by the National Learning Network, Rehab's training division, is a 12-month course, that teaches sufferers to regain control of their lives. For more information see www.rehab.ie.
- Sue Leonard
