Panic disorder is a recurrent disorder that occurs unexpectedly, begins suddenly, and intensifies rapidly, with various physical symptoms (palpitations, tremors, sweating, difficulty breathing, feeling of tightness in the chest, etc.) often accompanied by a feeling of severe fear and distress. It is a psychiatric disorder that progresses with attacks. Patients worry that other attacks will occur after recurrent panic attacks. This disorder can cause the person to experience significant problems in various areas such as social, occupational and educational, and reduce the quality of life.
Although panic disorder is an important psychiatric disorder that is quite distressing and makes it difficult for the person to participate in vital activities, it can be effectively treated with various psychiatric treatment methods. . The main goals of treatment can be summarized as completely eliminating panic attacks or at least reducing them to a level that does not bother the person, eliminating concerns about having a panic attack, improving the person's functionality and increasing the quality of life.
Before planning the treatment, the person's symptoms and events related to these symptoms, The conditions should be evaluated in detail, a correct diagnosis should be made, and other accompanying psychiatric or medical conditions, if any, should be identified. When planning treatment, a patient-specific plan should be made, taking into account the patient's personal characteristics, the severity, frequency, duration of panic disorder symptoms, and whether there is any other accompanying psychiatric or medical condition.
In the treatment of panic disorder, psychiatric drug treatments, psychotherapy, and a combination of both. The treatments used are effective. Although universal treatment guidelines state that various psychiatric medications are effective in the treatment of panic disorder, it is emphasized that psychotherapy methods should also be applied to increase treatment effectiveness and prevent recurrence of the disorder.
There are various medications with proven effectiveness in the treatment of panic disorder. It is very important to use drug treatments in effective doses. Although the beneficial effects of the drugs appear from the end of the first week, their significant therapeutic effects appear in 6-8 weeks. Although some people may experience mild or moderate side effects of the drugs in the first week, these side effects largely disappear on their own within 10 days. Treatment should be continued for 8-12 months at the dose that relieves the symptoms
Individual or group therapies have been found to be at least as effective as drug treatments in the treatment of panic disorder. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is one of the most effective methods in the treatment of panic disorder. Scientific studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy improves the patient's symptoms effectively and often more permanently than medications. Psychodynamic Therapies,Interpersonal Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) are other treatment methods applied in Panic Disorder.
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