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Panic Disorder Severity Scale

Panic attacks can be scary! Primarily because it can make us feel completely out of control, and that we have no way of calming down ourselves again. Amongst the symptoms that someone experiencing a panic attack include:

  • Sweating
  • Trembling or shaking
  • Breathlessness
  • A choking sensation
  • Chest pain or discomfort
  • Nausea
  • Dizziness or a feeling that you might faint
  • Feelings of unreality or disassociation
  • Numbness or tingling in our hands and feet
  • Chills or hot flushes
  • Thoughts of losing control, or that you might be going crazy
  • Thoughts that you might be dying

Just reading through the symptoms above is enough to give you chills up and down your spine, as those are the symptoms we usually associate with fear and dread.

But panicking, or being scared and anxious is actually a good thing. No really, hear me out!

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If you think about it, panic attacks, fear, and anxiety are actually things that are helpful for us humans. Without them, we would never know when to be cautious, or when we’re faced with danger. And without this warning system in place, we would never know when we need to protect ourselves, resulting in us getting in trouble and possibly hurt in the process.

You can see how this would’ve been helpful for our caveman ancestors. Imagine if you will a caveman out in the jungle hunting and gathering for their next meal, and all of a sudden they’re faced with a tiger or a bear. Without this warning system, we’d probably be eaten alive. But because we can detect threat, we’re able to do something to save us, and broadly speaking, we have two ways to respond. We can either run away, or fight/kill the threat. And this is basically your fight or flight response to a threat.

Regardless of whether you run or fight, your body needs to prepare itself. Your heart starts to pump faster to get blood to the vital organs, your heart, lungs and stomach. And as it does this, your fingers and toes get a tingly, cold feeling as blood is drawn away from the ‘less’ vital parts of your body so that the blood can be where it’s most needed. Your muscles start to tense up as it prepares to spring into action when you’re fighting or running, and as this is happening, your body starts sweating as well in anticipation to start cooling you down, making it feel like you’ve got chills. All the while, your mind is going into overdrive, anticipating the impending harm/death, and how you can escape or kill the threat.

Now if any of that sounds familiar, it’s because you just read it above. These are almost exactly the same as the symptoms of a panic attack. A panic attack is basically your body getting ready to run away, or to fight a threat.

But the thing is, we don’t have bears or tigers around us very much anymore. We do see them in the zoos, but they’re not altogether that threatening. What we do have are modern day threats, and these come in the form of angry bosses, disgruntled customers, mean teachers and partners who’re angry that we’ve missed a birthday. And because you can’t technically run away from these threats, or remove them from your life, that means that your ‘threats’ are perpetual, and hence we have what we call a panic attack, where your body perceives a threat, reacts to it, but because it can never go away, it stays in a heightened state for a long time.

If you’d like to find out if you have had panic attacks, give this test a go!

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1. 
How many panic and limited symptoms attacks did you have during the week?
2. 
If you had any panic attacks during the past week, how distressing (uncomfortable, frightening) were they while they were happening? (If you had more than one, give an average rating. If you didn’t have any panic attacks but did have limited symptom attacks, answer for the limited symptom attacks.)
3. 
During the past week, how much have you worried or felt anxious about when your next panic attack would occur or about fears related to the attacks (for example, that they could mean you have physical or mental health problems or could cause you social embarrassment)?
4. 
During the past week were there any places or situations (e.g., public transportation, movie theaters, crowds, bridges, tunnels, shopping malls, being alone) you avoided, or felt afraid of (uncomfortable in, wanted to avoid or leave), because of fear of having a panic attack? Are there any other situations that you would have avoided or been afraid of if they had come up during the week, for the same reason? If yes to either question, please rate your level of fear and avoidance this past week.
5. 
During the past week, were there any activities (e.g., physical exertion, sexual relations, taking a hot shower or bath, drinking coffee, watching an exciting or scary movie) that you avoided, or felt afraid of (uncomfortable doing, wanted to avoid or stop), because they caused physical sensations like those you feel during panic attacks or that you were afraid might trigger a panic attack? Are there any other activities that you would have avoided or been afraid of if they had come up during the week for that reason? If yes to either question, please rate your level of fear and avoidance of those activities this past week.
6. 
During the past week, how much did the above symptoms altogether (panic and limited symptom attacks, worry about attacks, and fear of situations and activities because of attacks) interfere with your ability to work or carry out your responsibilities at home? (If your work or home responsibilities were less than usual this past week, answer how you think you would have done if the responsibilities had been usual.)
7. 
During the past week, how much did panic and limited symptom attacks, worry about attacks and fear of situations and activities because of attacks interfere with your social life? (If you didn’t have many opportunities to socialize this past week, answer how you think you would have done if you did have opportunities.)
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