NY psychotherapist Colette Dowling, LMSW, author of the following article on panic disorder, has written eight books, including The Cinderella Complex: Women's Hidden Fear of Independence, which was published in 23 languages. Why Women PanicColette Dowling, LMSWWhy women panic is today a subject of great interest in medicine--but then, when I was first having them, no one even had a term for panic attacks. My first panic attack hit me during High Mass, in my senior year of college. Anxiety over leaving home and the impending separation from parents, I was told. My second panic attack hit four years later, in the Brooklyn Museum, where a photographer and I were at work on a magazine assignment. Reason for Panic Attack No. 2? None that I or anyone I knew could come up with. In fact it would be years before the term "panic attack" was even invented. In those days--and even today--people having panic attacks think they're going crazy. When my daughter and I were writing our book about women's depression and mental health, "You Mean I Don't Have to Feel this Way?", we became very interested in why women panic. Not only do women have th attacks more frequently than men, their are worse. A large epidemiological study has found that panic disorder is 2.5 more prevalent in women. In addition, women may suffer more debilitating forms of the illness. A significantly greater proportion of women than men have shortness of breath (72% versus 50%), feeling faint (59% versus 45%) and feeling smothered (60% versus 43%). If you wonder whether you're having panic attacks, check the following symptom list: * sudden onset of cardiorespiratory symptoms accompanied by catastrophic fears and the urge to flee * these symptoms include shortness of breath, tachycardia (rapid hearbeat), nausea, sweating and fears of losing control or going crazy There are two major explanations for the greater frequency and debilitaion of panic disorder in women. One is hormonal and one is called the "suffocation alarm theory" and the two affect one another. A triggered suffocation alarm can bring on acute distressing breathlessness. Studies have shown that females with panic disorder have a hypersensitive suffocation alarm. Progesterone and estrogen stimulate chronic hyperventilation during the luteal phase of the reproductive cycle. As estrogen levels fall after ovulation, higher carbon dioxide levels occur during expiratory respiration, causing hyperventilation. Thus, some females who have a low suffocation threshold may be vulnerable to panic, particularly at times during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Untreated panic disorder can lead to agorophobia, which can be more difficult to treat. The use of SSRI antidepressants has been found to be extremely effective in the taming of panic disorder, which should be treated as soon as possible. In addition to medication, therapists offer cognitive treatments that can help patients ward off panic symptoms. Reference: Panksepp J (1998) Affective Neuroscience; the Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions. New York: Oxford University Press.
An author and psychotherapist, Colette Dowling, LMSW, received her masters degree from The Smith College School for Social Work and has done advanced training at The Institue for Contemporary Psychotherapy,in New York. Colette has a private practice in New York and specializes in the treatment of women. For a consultation, or for further information, you can contact her at dowlingcolette@earthlink.net or by calling 718-594-0201. To hear Colette speaking about what it's like starting therapy with someone new, click the audio button.
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