Panic Disorders, Panic Anxiety Disorders and Phobias

Anxiety is the emotion you feel when a person, object, situation, or impulse seems dangerous to you. If you're crossing a street and suddenly notice a car speeding toward you, you feel afraid that you will be hit, and you dash out of the way. This fear and the behavior it provokes probably save your life. If you're fed up with your boss and want to hit him, the sick feeling in the pit of your stomach - the anxiety you feel when you anticipate the consequences of slugging your boss - keeps you from carrying through on your impulse. The anxiety and your control of your behavior probably save your job.

While "normal" anxiety is adaptive - that is, it helps you to survive and be productive - too much anxiety can be crippling. People who suffer from certain patterns of signs and symptoms related to anxiety are considered by mental health specialists to have anxiety disorders. Phobias and panic attacks are the most common of these disorders. (Other anxiety disorders - generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder, and atypical anxiety disorder - are each characterized by somewhat different symptoms. They will not be discussed here.)

Both phobias and panic disorder are marked not only by great anxiety in situations that are relatively safe, but also by an exaggerated avoidance of the source of distress. Depending on the type of phobia or panic, the person may shy away from floor-to-ceiling windows in a highrise, refuse an invitation to speak in front of a church group, or stay out of crowded shopping malls. People with these disorders don't actually have to encounter what they fear.

They become intensely anxious just by anticipating that they might soon be in the feared situation, brooding over it in their imagination.

The fears can start in childhood or adulthood. Some people have suddenly become terrified of things they've been doing for years. For example, a flight attendant began having panic attacks on her 500th flight.

Some people can sidestep the thing they fear without much difficulty. Some, especially adults, can hide their distress and conceal their phobias. Even those who usually adjust their lives to fit their phobias are sometimes able to confront what they fear, "toughing it out," suffering all the while. While children may outgrow their phobias, adults usually do not get rid of them unless they receive treatment.

Recognized even in ancient times, phobias and panic are known around the world, probably in every human culture. The most recent and thorough studies show that, in the United States, phobias are the most common of all mental disorders. Seven out of every hundred Americans have phobias. Eight out of every thousand have panic disorder. Compared to men, women more often suffer from most types of phobia and panic disorder.

The reason that phobias and panic are more common in women is now known. Investigators speculate that men may be more likely to drown their fears, since alcohol abuse is more common in men than women. This is just one of many possible explanations, however. Differences in biological makeup or social and psychological experiences may also be responsible. For example, in our society some girls are encouraged to be more fearful and less independent than males.