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With panic disorder, at least four of the following symptoms suddenly occur within 10 minutes. Attacks may be followed by at least 1 month of persistent fear of having another attack.
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PANIC ATTACK SYMPTOMS. The DSM-IV-TR lists thirteen symptoms to meet the criteria for a diagnosis of panic attack. The affected person must have four or more of these symptoms within ten minutes of the beginning of an attack in order to meet the p...
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Scientists are not sure what causes panic disorder, but they suspect the tendency to develop the condition can be inherited. Some experts think that people with panic disorder may have a hypersensitive nervous system that unnecessarily responds to...
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Stress can come from any situation or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or anxious. What is stressful to one person is not necessarily stressful to another. Anxiety is a feeling of apprehension or fear. The source of this uneasiness i...
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Systematic desensitization is a technique used to treat phobias and other extreme or erroneous fears based on principles of behavior modification .
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Anxiety is a bodily response to a perceived threat or danger. It is triggered by a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient's personal history and memory, and the social situation. It is important to distinguish between anxiety ...
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Anxiety is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient's personal history and memory, and the social situation. As far as we know, anxiety is a uniquely human ex...
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Anxiety is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient's personal history and memory , and the social situation at hand. Human anxiety involves an ability to use...
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Anxiety is a condition of persistent and uncontrollable nervousness, stress, and worry that is triggered by anticipation of future events, memories of past events, or ruminations over day-to-day events, both trivial and major, with disproportionat...
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A condition of persistent nervousness, stress, and worry that is triggered by anticipation of future events, memories of past events, or ruminations about the self Stimulated by real or imagined dangers, anxiety affects people of all ages and soci...
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Panic attacks, the hallmark of panic disorder , are discrete episodes of intense anxiety. Panic attacks can also be experienced by people with specific phobia, social phobia , or by people who have used or consumed certain substances, such as coca...
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Palpitations are heartbeat sensations that feel like your heart is pounding or racing. You may simply have an unpleasant awareness of your own heartbeat, or may feel skipped or stopped beats. The heart's rhythm may be normal or abnormal. Palpitati...
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A sensation in which a person is aware of an irregular, hard, or rapid heartbeat.
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Breathing difficulty involves a sensation of difficult or uncomfortable breathing or a feeling of not getting enough air. See also: Difficulty breathing - first aid
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Shortness of breath, or dyspnea, is a feeling of difficult or labored breathing that is out of proportion to the patient's level of physical activity. It is a symptom of a variety of different diseases or disorders and may be either acute or chronic.
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Hyperventilation is rapid or deep breathing that can occur with anxiety or panic. It is also called overbreathing, and may leave you feeling breathless. See also: Rapid shallow breathing
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Feeling lightheaded is a sensation that may precede syncope or fainting. It is usually experienced when in an upright position (standing or sitting). If
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Fidgeting is usually used to describe someone who is seen as not being able to sit still. Fidgety people move in their seats constantly, move their hands and feet and appear to be in perpetual motion.
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The heart rate, usually measured by checking the arterial pulse or sounds counting the times of the heart beat, is considered one of the vital signs. Vital signs – body temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure provide information about the state of health of a person and, if abnormal, offer clues to problems.
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Clammy skin is cool, moist, and usually pale.
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Electrical impulses causes the heart to pump. Normally the impulse originates in the right upper chamber of the heart, called the right atrium. The electrical
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Pain is a universal human experience. The International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage...
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Pain, medically termed "nociception," is a response to noxious stimuli that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons . The discomfort signals actual or impending injury to the body. However, pain is more than a sensation, or the physical awaren...
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Pain is an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons. The discomfort signals actual or potential injury to the body. However, pain is more than a sensation, or the physical awareness of pain; it also includes perception, ...
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Pain is an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by sensory neurons. The discomfort signals actual or potential injury to the body. However, pain is more than a sensation, or the physical awareness of pain; it also includes perception, ...
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Pain is an unpleasant feeling that is conveyed to the brain by nerves in the body.
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An aversion to a person, place, activity, event, or object that causes emotional distress and often avoidance behavior. Fear is defined as emotional reaction related to a person, place, activity, event, or object. Symptoms of fear may include stif...
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Fear is an intense aversion to or apprehension of a person, place, activity, event, or object that causes emotional distress and often avoidance behavior. Fears are common in childhood.
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Dizziness is light-headedness, feeling like you might faint, being unsteady, loss of balance, or vertigo (a feeling that you or the room is spinning or moving. Most causes of dizziness are not serious and either quickly get better on their own or ...
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As a disorder, dizziness is classified into three categories: vertigo, syncope, and nonsyncope nonvertigo. Each category has its own set of symptoms, all related to the sense of balance. In general, syncope is defined by a brief loss of consciousn...
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Dizziness is classified into three categories—vertigo, syncope, and nonsyncope nonvertigo. Each category has a characteristic set of symptoms, all related to the sense of balance. In general, syncope is defined by a brief loss of consciousness (fa...
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As a disorder, dizziness is classified into three categories—vertigo, syncope, and nonsyncope nonvertigo. Each category has a characteristic set of symptoms, all related to the sense of balance. In general, syncope is defined by a brief loss of co...
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Dizziness is a general term that describes sensations of imbalance and unsteadiness, such as vertigo, mild turning, imbalance, and near fainting or fainting. Feelings of dizziness stem from the vestibular system, which includes the brain and the p...
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Nausea is the sensation of having an urge to vomit. Vomiting is forcing the contents of the stomach up through the esophagus and out of the mouth.
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Nausea is the sensation of having a queasy stomach or being about to vomit. Vomiting , or emesis, is the expelling of undigested food through the mouth.
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Chest pain is discomfort or pain that you feel anywhere along the front of your body between your neck and upper abdomen.
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Vomiting is the forceful discharge of stomach contents through the mouth.
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Numbness and tingling are decreased or abnormal sensations caused by altered sensory nerve function.
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Numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or legs.
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Numbness and tingling are decreased or abnormal sensations caused by altered sensory nerve function.
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Hot flashes, experienced by large numbers of women and some men as a result of surgical, chemical, or age-in duced changes in estrogen levels, are characterized by a rapid rise and discharge of heat with perspiration, discomfort, and possible redn...
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Chills refers to feeling cold after an exposure to a cold environment. The word can also refer to an episode of shivering, accompanied by paleness and feeling cold.
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Chills is the common name for a feeling of coldness accompanied by shivering and possibly fever .
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Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness due to a drop in blood flow to the brain. The episode is brief (lasting less than a couple of minutes) and is followed by rapid and complete recovery. You may feel light-headed or dizzy before fainting...
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Fainting is a temporary loss of consciousness, weakness of muscles, and inability to stand up, all caused by sudden loss of blood flow to the brain. Fainting is a relatively common symptom caused by a variety of problems relating to changes in blo...
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Fainting is loss of consciousness caused by a temporary lack of oxygen to the brain. Known by the medical term "syncope," fainting may be preceded by dizziness , nausea, or a feeling of extreme weakness.
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Syncope, or fainting, is a temporary loss of consciousness, usually caused by decreased blood flow to the brain . Syncope is a symptom, rather than a disease itself, and has many causes. The vasovagal faint, which usually occurs in young, otherwis...
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Choking is when someone can't breathe because food, a toy, or other object is blocking the airway (throat or windpipe.
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Choking is a condition caused by inhalation of a foreign object that partially or fully blocks the airway.
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Blockage of the throat or windpipe by an object. Choking is a major cause of death for children under three, and is a hazard for older children as well. Young children explore the world with their mouths, and they will naturally put in their mouth...
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Choking is the inability to breathe because the trachea is blocked, constricted, or swollen shut.
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Skin blushing or flushing is a sudden reddening of the face, neck, or upper chest.
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A tremor is a type of involuntary shaking movement. Involuntary means you shake without trying to do so. A tremor is often most noticeable in your hands, but may affect any body part (even your head or voice. There are three main types of tremors:...
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A normal breathing rate for an adult at rest is 8 to 16 breaths per minute. For an infant, a normal rate is up to 44 breaths per minute. Tachypnea is the medical term that your doctor uses to describe your breathing if it is too fast, particularly...
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An arrhythmia is a disorder of the heart rate (pulse) or heart rhythm, such as beating too fast (tachycardia), too slow (bradycardia), or irregularly.
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An arrhythmia is an abnormality in the heart's rhythm, or heartbeat pattern. The heartbeat can be too slow, too fast, have extra beats, skip a beat, or otherwise beat irregularly.
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Dysphagia is a disorder of swallowing.
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Moist skin is an indication that the body is sweating (perspiring). Perspiration is the release of liquid from the sweat glands of the body, a normal body function to help the body stay cool.
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The heart rate, usually measured by checking the arterial pulse or sounds counting the times of the heart beat, is considered one of the vital signs. Vital signs – body temperature, pulse, breathing rate, and blood pressure provide information about the state of health of a person and, if abnormal,offer clues to problems.
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Heartburn is a painful burning sensation in the esophagus, just below or behind the breastbone. The pain often rises in your chest and may radiate to your neck or throat.
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Heartburn is a burning sensation in the chest that can extend to the neck, throat, and face; it is worsened by bending or lying down. It is the primary symptom of gastroesophageal reflux, which is the movement of stomach acid into the esophagus. O...
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Heartburn is a burning sensation in the chest that can extend to the neck, throat, and face. It usually occurs after eating and is worsened by bending, lifting, or lying down.
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