Panic disorders: Life-altering yet preventable

             Imagine trying to pay attention in class and all you can think of is one repetitive thought-you feel like you are dying; the professor is not responsible, but stressing about whether you will fail can trigger a panic attack.

            Panic disorder can prevent people from completing everyday tasks and excelling in academics.   Young adults most commonly develop the mental condition, which can be treated with counseling and medication in severe cases. 

            “A lot of people don’t know and a lot self-medicate using other patients’ drugs,” commented Lorraine Hebert of the Counseling and Testing Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

            “We see panic attacks more often than psychosis,” added Hebert.

            Anxiety seems to be the No. 1 cause and surfaces at age 18 or 19, as students acquire new and greater responsibilities.  Panic attacks hit suddenly, then subside after a few minutes.  They resemble a heart attack, with heart palpitations, chest pain, disorientation, fear, shaking, and shortness of breath.

            “You know you’re dying, you have this impending doom,” Dr. Marelle Yongue, UL Lafayette Student Health Services physician, describing the feeling one has while suffering from a panic attack.

            People can be diagnosed with panic disorder based on if they have had two or more unexpected panic attacks that interfered with their ways of life. They may be asked questions to differ their symptoms from other health problems and they may also be given a mental health assessment to help identify the disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

            Some people experience panic attacks only a few times in a lifetime.  Other people have these episodes daily or weekly.  Although the causes are still being investigated there are factors believed to play a role in these episodes. 

         People who have parents with panic disorder, bipolar disorder or depression are more at risk as well as those who have endured stressful events.  Attacks have also been attributed as a result of a chemical explosion in the brain, Yongue said.

Up to half the people with panic disorder also have agoraphobia-the fear of being in any place where panicky feelings occur such as at a mall, in line, driving.  Students with panic disorder may hesitate to go to class or any crowded place where it would leave them in an embarrassing situation if they have an attack.  The students also may  stop studying and not tell the professors about their problems.  Approximately 30 percent of students turn to drinking and 17 percent turn to using drugs in attempts to relieve the anxiety according to the NIMH. 

Hebert said if the students cannot communicate with their professors, they can seek help at the Counseling and Testing Center on the second floor of Olivier Hall.  Students who are having problems academically can go to Services for Students with Disabilities, where they may be able to take tests in a quiet environment and may have someone assigned as their note taker.  Students are also advised to sit in the back of the classroom, to notify their professors about their disorders and to leave the classroom if they have a panic attack.

            Counselors treat panic disorder with behavior modification and relaxation techniques and by journaling potential causes and evaluating the students’ family histories.   After two or three sessions, the counselor will decide whether to refer them to Yongue for medication. She said she will prescribe a one- or two-week dosage to experiment with what works and how much medicine is necessary.  The students must also follow up with counseling at least once a month, Hebert said.

            Yongue said counseling slowly deals with the cause.  For example, if people have a fear of crossing bridges they will avoid bridges.  Some people do not leave home because they cannot face such fears, she added.  Therefore, counselors help them face fears one step at a time such as placing a foot on the bridge and gradually work up to crossing it.

            According to the NIMH, approximately 2.4 million Americans a year between ages 18 and 54 have panic disorder. Women are twice as likely as men to develop it, and roughly half of those people develop it before age 24.  Treatment can reduce or prevent panic attacks in 70 to 90 percent of patients, and most of them show significant progress in a few weeks of therapy, the NIMH reports.

            “The objective is to keep them in school so they can graduate with disorders and get help,” Hebert concluded.

The Vermilion, University of Louisiana at Lafayette's student newspaper