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Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners
Are panic attacks always accompanied by an underlying anxiety disorder?
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Dr Louise Shepherd
Clinical Psychologist, Psychologist
I am a clinical psychologist with 15 years experience working with all sorts of goals and issues. I love working with people, helping them to … View Profile
The short answer is no. A panic attack can happen to anyone and in fact off the top of my head I think something like 80% of adults will have had at least one at some stage.
Panic attacks often happen at times when we feel physically and emotionally run down…..in a sense they often happen, seemingly out of the blue, at times when we are perhaps feeling overwhelmed. I tend to think of them as our mind and body telling us that things are not quite right…..maybe we need to slow down, take some time out to relax with friends and family and take stock.
Having said that, panic attacks are often accompanied by an anxiety disorder, often what is called panic disorder (with or without the avoidance aspect, i.e. agoraphobia), social anxiety or OCD.
What your mind tells you about what is happening will probably determine whether you just have 1-2 panic attacks and that is it or whether you develop an ongoing issue with panic attacks.
It is the fear of panic attacks that is the issue, not really the panic attack itself.
I hope that is somewhat helpful!Report this post
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