Panic Disorder

A panic attack is the sudden experience of intense fear and dread, usually accompanied by tremors, agitation, confusion, dizziness, fainting spells, nausea, difficulty breathing, and thoughts that something terrible might happen. The cause of a panic attack is not always clear. Although most of the population might experience a panic attack in their lifetime, someone with panic disorder has a chronic experience of panic attacks, a persistent preoccupation of having a future panic attack, and hypervigilance of physical sensations that may indicate a possible panic attack e.i. increased heart rate, increased body temperature).