by Hanna M. Jagow

Created on: December 06, 2009

A panic disorder is to a generalized anxiety disorder as the flu is to a cold. "Panic attacks" include severe symptoms of dread, rapid heart beat, a feeling of losing all control of oneself, and have been described by people who endured concentration camps as being "worse."

Sometimes the fear of another attack is enough to cause a person to hole up and not leave home, which is another disorder called agoraphobia. Fear of being afraid feeds into a cycle of panic that can lead to another panic attack, and these are even more distressing when witnessed in a public place or by friends.

Treatment that has proven effective depends on the person, but simple education about what is happening can be a huge palliative. Just knowing that the attack is going to pass, they are not having a heart attack, and they will not die from being so scared, can actually decrease the severity and frequency of attacks.

A hormonal or chemical imbalance might be the culprit, but usually there has been trauma. Medications can help a person continue to function while they learn how to recognize what triggers them, better ways to cope, and heal from whatever traumatized them. Only a psychiatrist trained in treating this disorder should be prescribing both medical and therapeutic interventions.

On the other hand, a generalized anxiety disorder is something more constant, without the sudden spikes of unbearable angst, but nevertheless can impact a person's life in many ways. While panic disorders have their origins in trauma, GAD is something that appears to be more about how a person is able, or not, to cope with the everyday stressors in their lives.

Stress by itself is not always destructive, until it becomes unmanageable. Without some stress, we would not function at all. However, with too much, we can implode or explode, sometimes literally. Many addicts can trace their addiction to being constantly worried that "the sky is falling;" even when there is no evidence that a disaster is looming.

In the world we live in, and the media we are exposed to, it is not inconceivable that most or all of us have some degree of GAD. Since the brain's limbic system does not differentiate between real and imaginary threat, a constant diet of violent shows and video games cannot help but activate the physiological responses to danger that are built in to our bodies. Constant flight or fight responses drain us of our ability to cope by depleting the us of adrenaline so that when a genuine emergency

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