PANIC DISORDER
Panic disorder is often difficult to diagnose and many people go years before an accurate diagnosis is made. Recent research, interestingly, has pointed not to something learned but to a brain hormone which may have acted in an irregular fashion. New research has indicated that panic may, in fact, be related to brain activity during sleep, activity that has nothing to do with our concerns or daily activities, but merely chemical changes that go awry. For this reason, awakening with a panic attack may just be one of these unexpected changes and nothing more. Why does this happen? Researchers are still trying to figure out this puzzle. See our Videos page for a public service video on panic disorder.
What is it like to have a panic attack? Do famous people get them or only people who can’t seem to control their feelings?
What is Panic Disorder? (NIMH)
Anxiety Disorders Association of America
Anxiety Network
Medline Plus (National Library of Medicine)
PsychCentral
About.com (Panic Disorder)
Internet Mental Health - Panic Disorder
Familydoctor.org
MedicineNet
Panic attacks and panic disorder (Mayo Clinic)
Panic Disorder (NAMI)
eMedicine
Medline Encyclopedia
Mental Health America
WebMD
National Cancer Institute
University of Maryland Medical Center
Merck Manual
FDA Consumer: The heart that goes thump in the night
Panic and Cardiac Risk (recruiting study, Australia)
Report of the Surgeon General
A Trait Marker for Panic Disorder
Center for Psychotherapy Research (Penn Behavioral Health)
Panic Study (Mass. General Hospital)