Panic disorders

Panic Disorder is a mental condition that causes the sufferer to experience sporadic bouts of frightening symptoms, such as racing heart, shortness of breath, or a feeling of hopeless loss of control.

Causes of Panic Disorder
It is not immediately clear what causes panic disorders, although it probably has to do with an imbalance of neurotransmitters in the brain, especially those related to information processing.

It is also unclear why certain individuals develop panic disorders, while others do not. Panic disorder may be passed through heredity, but it could be caused by a reaction to medication, diet, or stressful events.

Symptoms of Panic Disorder
Panic disorder sufferers usually have a series of intense episodes of extreme anxiety, known as panic attacks. A panic event may be triggered by an especially stressful situation, or it may occur for no particular reason. These events usually last for several minutes. Some individuals deal with these events on a regular basis&mdash;sometimes daily or even weekly. Because of the constant fear of having another panic attack, individuals with panic disorder are often extremely uncomfortable in social situations. As a result, as many as 50% of all individuals with panic disorder also have agoraphobia.