TEXT:

Psychopathology : Foundations for a Contemporary Understanding by James E. Maddux  and Barbara A. Winstead

Original Question:

For this week's Forum, respond to the following: Describe and contrast the nature of panic attacks as found in a diagnosis of Panic Disorder versus a diagnosis of Social Phobia. Discuss one pharmacological and one psychological treatment for symptoms of panic attacks.

Reply to the following response with 200 words minimum. (please make response as if having a conversation, respond directly to some of the statements in below post. This is not providing an analysis of the original post. Respectfully address it and even ask clarifying or additional questions.)

For the forum this week, we will have to compare and contrast panic disorder and social phobia, which is also known as social anxiety disorder. We will look at each one and describe what they are, how they are the same and how they are different.

Panic disorder is an affliction where the patient is described as having an immediate and reoccurring onset of sudden attacks of panic (Star, 2016). These attacks seem to occur out of nowhere and have many symptoms attached to the attacks such as nausea, chest brain, and shortness of breath. The most severe symptoms are those of fear of dying or fear of going crazy (Star, 2016)

Social Phobia or anxiety disorder is a mental disorder where a person is afraid of being judged by others or is worried about what people will think about them (Star, 2017). With anxiety disorder, people experience the same types of symptoms that may accompany panic disorder, but this is a condition that is constant and not immediate or sudden such as panic disorder (Star, 2017).

The major difference to understand regarding the two disorders or afflictions is that anxiety disorder symptoms only occur when environmental factors come into play when the person afflicted with this disorder puts themselves into a situation to cause these symptoms (Star, 2017). In many cases the panic attacks one may experience with panic disorder, as mentioned before, are inconveniently sudden and may differ on each attack or may be similar when they occur (Star, 2017).

These disorders are similar in that they both can be treated medications and various forms of psychotherapy. (Star, 2017) Cognitive behavioral therapy can help many afflicted with these disorders by allowing them to lessen the severity of the attacks by reducing the thoughts of the emotions regarding the anxiety and bringing them from life-threatening to more anxious feeling (Star, 2017).

The question for the class this week is when we encounter a similar situation that causes us to panic, such as turbulence in a plane, while flying, if we think the worst, our palms begin to sweat, and we become worried that we are not going to survive the flight, can these be constituted as a panic disorder with the catalyst being the turbulence within the flight? Can therapy possibly solve this?

Sources

Star, K. (2016). How is Panic Disorder Diagnosed?

Panic Disorder and Social Anxiety Disorder.