“ When you were born, everyone was smiling but you were crying. Live such a life that when you depart, everyone is weeping but you are smiling. ” - Sa'di of Shiraz

Panic disorder

 

a discrete period of intense fear or discomfort, in which four (or more) of the following symptoms develop abruptly & reach a peak within 10 min:

1.) palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate.
2.) sweating.
3.) trembling or shaking.
4.) sensations of shortness of breath or smothering.
5.) feeling of choking.
6.) chest pain or discomfort.
7.) nausea or abdominal distress.
8.) feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint.
9.) derealization (feelings of unreality) or depers-onalization (being detached from oneself).
10.) fear of losing control or going crazy.
11.) fear of dying.
12.) paraesthesias (numbness or tingling).
13.) chills or hot flushes.

panic attacks are subdivided into unexpected (uncued), situationally bound (cued) and situationally predisposed. "limited-symptom attacks" are episodes meeting fewer than four criteria but otherwise identical to panic attacks.

 

Wilson, Reid.
Anxieties.com. This is a fine site giving high quality information about cognitive-behavioural therapy, self-help, and medication treatments for a variety of anxiety disorders.
24 Mar 2004.
url : http://www.anxieties.com/.

NIMH Panic Disorder. US National Institute of Mental Health information on panic disorder.
01 Jan 2000.
url : http://www.nimh.nih.gov/anxiety/panicmenu.cfm