Hello to All,
I'm Julie Pedersen - the other author of The Panic Diaries. I want to thank Dotsie for featuring our book this month and welcome all of you to share your ideas and experiences with Jeanne and me. I'd also like to take a moment - at the beginning of this Panic Month - to advise anyone out there with panic symptoms to check with their doctor to rule out any underlying physical disorders.
Like Jeanne, I've struggled with panic symptoms since early childhood. I was never able to tell anyone about my symptoms and became Very Good at hiding them, so I imagine that some of you out there might be in a similar boat and I encourage you to jump in and join the discussion. I learned many, many things writing The Panic Diaries - but one of the things that stands out most for me is the amazing number of people around the world who are troubled by this disorder. That, and all the famous people in history (Freud, Darwin, Emily Dickinson to name just a few) who suffered from panic and other anxiety disorders. The point is, if you're someone who suffers from panic, you should know that you are not alone - there are a bazillion people (okay, maybe not quite that many) who are in the same boat with you. That might not help much in the middle of a panic attack, but it's a good thing to remind yourself of every day!
-Julie Pedersen

Question....you say, "who suffered from panic and other anxiety disorders"

Just how many different kinds of anxiety disorders are there? Are there like categories?

I'm just curious.

JJ

Good question jj. I know they have the answer because I remember reading about different disorders in their book.

Yes, jj - there are official categories of anxiety disorders. The history of these categories is really fascinating - Jeanne talked a bit about this in her post yesterday.

Sorry for the short post - my keyboard locked up (must have had a panic attack). Anyway, the DSM (the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - there's a mouthful, huh?) is the official book used by physicians and mental health professionals (pretty much around the world) to treat and diagnose mental disorders. And there's a big fat section in it on anxiety disorders. In The Panic Diaries, we talk about most of the biggies - 11 in all, ranging from agoraphobia to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Each of these is category of an anxiety disorder and all anxiety disorders can have panic attacks as one of their primary symptoms. As Jeanne mentioned in her post, it wasn't until 1980 (when a revised edition of the DSM appeared) that anxiety disorders got their own little (?) section. Prior to that time, the odds of a doctor being able to diagnose and treat (not to mention "understand") your specific anxiety condition were pretty darn low. As we know nowadays, the symptoms of say, agoraphobia are vastly different from OCD or PTSD. But none of these distinctions were made before 1980. The good news in all of this is that doctors and mental health professionals have a much better understanding of these disorders than they did just a few decades ago. That means better results and treatments for you, me, Jeanne and the approximately 200 million other people around the world (low estimate, actually) who struggle with anxiety disorders! As we say in the book "if you happen to suffer from one of these disorders, you couldn't have picked a better time to be born!"
-Julie

I'm a little confused. I didn't know OCD was considered in this anxiety disorder. I'm a counter.

Also, can stress or worry bring on temporary panic attacks or are they simply a symptom of them? Does this question make sense?

JJ, I had to laugh when you wrote that you had a panic attack on the day you married. Me too (first so-called marriage) Before the 1980 DSM, I was diagnosed as depression/anxiety. That is what I was treated for. However, little did they know at the time that the reason for the depression/anxiety was in the PTSD I had from childhood abuse. I am glad that the DSM and professionals and meds have evolved to more specifically target the symptoms, and likely get to the root cause. I don't get panic attacks very often anymore due to meds. Mine are likely to occur at night when I'm trying to sleep! And driving while in a panic can be dangerous. I hope the discussions here will serve to help all of us how have experienced what can be debilitating attacks. Love and Light, Lynn

Yes, OCD is categorized as an anxiety disorder. And yes, stress is often a "trigger" for panic attacks.

The thing to remember is that panic attacks are a symptom, much like a sneeze is a symptom. A sneeze could just be, well, a sneeze, or it could be the first symptom of a cold or a flu or allergies.

Often a stressful event such as, the death of a loved one, marriage, divorce, bankruptcy or college graduation, to name just a few, can act as a trigger. Perhaps you experience a panic attack, or two, and that's it. However, if you are predisposed to an anxiety disorder, the stressful event can "trigger" the illness. Generally, the rule is if your panic attacks are disrupting your life, if you are making changes in your life based on your panic attacks, then you should seek professional help.

Hope this helps!

Jeanne

I just wanted to let you know that my book, THE PANIC DIARIES arrived today and I've started reading it. Thank you Jeanne and Julie for writing such a straight forward, no nonsense book.