Quiz by DR. JOYCE BROTHERS
SYNDICATED COLUMNIST

Many people get nervous or feel anxious during unfamiliar situations or novel experiences. Some people, however, are struck with such irrational fears during daily life that their panic becomes debilitating. This true or false quiz helps you test your knowledge about the symptoms, causes and treatments of these common disorders.

1. Most experts agree that about 10 percent of people suffer from panic disorder.

TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )

2. Agoraphobia, or an intense fear of public places, is a disorder that can commonly occur along with panic attacks.

TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )

3. Oftentimes, a panic attack can be triggered by a person's physical symptoms, such as heartburn or a headache.

TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )

4. Medication is considered the best way to treat panic disorders.

TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )

5. Physical symptoms of panic disorder can include nausea and vomiting, chills or sweats, feeling of choking or shortness of breath, fainting, trembling and numbness or tingling sensations.

TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )

6. There is only one type of anxiety disorder, and it has similar symptoms in all people.

FALSE ( ) FALSE ( )

7. People with severe social phobia may fear being judged or watched by others so much that any interaction with another person can cause them to experience debilitating broad physical and psychological symptoms.

TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )

8. Anxiety disorders can be present from an early age or can begin suddenly. They are most prone to appear during times of high stress.

TRUE ( ) FALSE ( )

ANSWERS:

1. FALSE. Most studies have found that 1 percent to 2 percent of people suffer from panic disorders. The Public Health Agency of Canada estimates that about 0.7 percent of Canadians between ages 15 and 64 suffer from panic. While many people have experienced panic attacks in their lives, panic disorders leave people in constant fear that an attack will strike again at any moment.

2. TRUE. Agoraphobia stems from a fear of being unable to escape to a safe location during a panic attack. Agoraphobics tend to try to avoid the situations that they think may have initiated the panic attack, and thereby close themselves off to new or unusual experiences as well as public locations.

3. TRUE. It is hard for those suffering from panic disorders to recognize the physical triggers that can set off attacks. Instead they associate the attack with the activity they were doing or the location where they were when the attack struck. This can lead them to avoid these circumstances.

4. FALSE. Cognitive behavioral therapy is thought by most in the field to be the most effective treatment for panic disorders. This method encourages those suffering from panic attacks to expose themselves to different experiences in a safe environment. Patients are taught to control their thoughts and actions during panic attacks. SSRI medications can be helpful in certain circumstances, but taking a pill that has short-term anti-anxiety effects every time a panic attack strikes can be counterproductive.

5. TRUE. All of these symptoms can be felt during panic attacks, either alone or in combinations. The physical symptoms go along with the emotional and mental symptoms usually associated with feelings of panic, such as nervousness and fear.

6. FALSE. There are five major types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive- compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and social phobia. All five of these exhibit slightly different symptoms, and are brought about in different settings.

7. TRUE. Because this disorder can strike anytime a person is in a social setting, it can severely interfere with work, school and other necessary daily activities. This can lead to more extreme forms of the disorder, including agoraphobia.

8. TRUE. Anxiety disorder can be chronic. A family history of mental distress or trouble dealing with anxiety can be signs that you may have an anxiety disorder. Additionally, stress can bring out physical and emotional symptoms usually associated with panic attacks.

If you were able to answer six of the eight questions correctly, you're more informed than most on this subject.

Write to Dr. Joyce Brothers via King Features, 888 Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10019.

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Free DVD and CD - find out how you can tap your natural ability to let go of any unwanted feeling on the spot.

Cure from Panic Disorder not as easy as counting 1, 2, 3….and gone. For me it’s like eliminating memory from your brain until it’s gone. Sometimes when get stress/ under pressure panic comes again. Breathing begins not stable and get confuse.
Here’s some suggestion to reducing anxiety :

1. Change Your Focus

When you get near of anxiety, you may not focus on your breath or focus on what will happen next because of your anxiety. Stay calm, relax and try to CHANGE YOUR FOCUS, for example if you get anxious in crowded street, try to focusing around, the detail of something, the color of cars, the smell around or you can imagine a red traffic light.

2. Use your imagination

Believe it or not, when I get confuse of panic, I visualize entire negative emotion and anxiety of my body move to clean white paper until the paper get dirty of negative emotion/anxiety (do it only in imagination/just visualize). Do it with motion by waving your hand around your head (to take negative emotion and move it to imaginative white paper). Until the paper get dirty and shrink (as anxiety begins to reduce) . Do it until you can control your anxiety.

Purpose: to put a stop to the thoughts that lead to anxiety, and to replace those thoughts with realistic, rational thoughts. Then, when these self-statements are practiced and learned, your brain takes over automatically. This is a form of conditioning, meaning that your brain chemistry (neurotransmission) actually changes as a result of your new thinking habits.

First, use thought stoppage. Be gentle but firm about it.

"STOP! These thoughts are not good for me. They are not healthy or helpful thoughts, and I have decided to move in a better direction and learn to think differently." (You are reminding and reinforcing your brain each and every time you make this rational and realistic statement.)

Then, pick two or three statements from the list below that seem to help you, and repeat them to yourself OUT LOUD each day. (You don’t have to believe them fully yet – that will happen later).

When Anxiety is Near:
General Statements

1. I’m going to be all right. My feelings are not always rational. I’m just going to relax, calm down, and everything will be all right.

2. Anxiety is not dangerous -- it’s just uncomfortable. I am fine; I’ll just continue with what I’m doing or find something more active to do.

3. Right now I have some feelings I don’t like. They are really just phantoms, however, because they are disappearing. I will be fine.

4. Right now I have feelings I don’t like. They will be over with soon and I’ll be fine. For now, I am going to focus on doing something else around me.

5. That picture (image) in my head is not a healthy or rational picture. Instead, I’m going to focus on something healthy like _________________________.

6. I’ve stopped my negative thoughts before and I’m going to do it again now. I am becoming better and better at deflecting these automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) and that makes me happy.

7. So I feel a little anxiety now, SO WHAT? It’s not like it’s the first time. I am going to take some nice deep breaths and keep on going. This will help me continue to get better."

Statements to use when
Preparing for a Stressful Situation

1. I’ve done this before so I know I can do it again.

2. When this is over, I’ll be glad that I did it.

3. The feeling I have about this trip doesn’t make much sense. This anxiety is like a mirage in the desert. I’ll just continue to "walk" forward until I pass right through it.

4. This may seem hard now, but it will become easier and easier over time.

5. I think I have more control over these thoughts and feelings than I once imagined. I am very gently going to turn away from my old feelings and move in a new, better direction.

Statements to use when
I feel overwhelmed

1. I can be anxious and still focus on the task at hand. As I focus on the task, my anxiety will go down.

2. Anxiety is a old habit pattern that my body responds to. I am going to calmly and nicely change this old habit. I feel a little bit of peace, despite my anxiety, and this peace is going to grow and grow. As my peace and security grow, then anxiety and panic will have to shrink.

3. At first, my anxiety was powerful and scary, but as time goes by it doesn’t have the hold on me that I once thought it had. I am moving forward gently and nicely all the time.

4. I don’t need to fight my feelings. I realize that these feelings won’t be allowed to stay around very much longer. I just accept my new feelings of peace, contentment, security, and confidence.

5. All these things that are happening to me seem overwhelming. But I’ve caught myself this time and I refuse to focus on these things. Instead, I’m going to talk slowly to myself, focus away from my problem, and continue with what I have to do. In this way, my anxiety will have to shrink away and disappear.

Source: Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D., Psychologist