A great many of us are acquainted with fear and stress. These are normal situations in our lives and once we pass these troubles we tend to forget about them. Unfortunately there are people who live with fear and panic their whole lives. For these people panic does not mean a reaction to a normal dangerous situation, instead it means wondering when you will be terrified and helpless next. This is what having panic disorder can do to you.

Panic disorder is a serious condition. The feelings arising from this disorder are irrational to the situation. They have a tendency to appear in response to stressful events in our lives. These may be events like getting married, having your first child, even changing your job. Panic disorders usually start from panic attacks. These can sometimes arise during teenage years to early adulthood.

Panic attacks and their symptoms are associated with panic disorder. The symptoms can range from a fast beating heart, dizziness, nausea, paralyzing terror, smothering sensations to a fear of death. Sometimes panic disorder can lead to various phobias, substance abuse, medical complications and in extreme cases, suicide.

The sufferer of panic disorder will live in constant and persistent fear of future panic attacks reoccurring. The effect of living with panic disorder is that you tend to restrict your life in certain areas so that you avoid triggering another panic attack. While we may think that this behavior is strange, for the panic disorder victim this sort of lifestyle tends to be a nightmare.

The effects of panic disorder ranges from mild to being socially impaired to the more serious and debilitating condition of agoraphobia, where you are housebound for a large part of your life as you desire to avoid another panic attack. With panic disorder, phobias are usually the result. Here phobias do not develop with regards to specific objects or events in one's life. Instead experiencing a panic attack in different places or situations will cause the phobia to manifest itself.

People who may have had 4 or more repeated panic attacks and who think that they might have another such bout of pure mind numbing terror should consult with a psychiatrist who specializes in anxiety and panic disorders. This is very important because the longer your condition is left untreated, the more the quality of your life will degrade.

Many therapists agree that the best ways to treat panic disorder is with cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy and in some a combination of these two along with prescription medication. These are all excellent methods to control your panic disorder, however these will remain only methods and not possible cures if you do not take the first step in seeing a trained psychiatrist as well as completing the course of treatment.