If you’ve been hoping to find that elusive explanation for your panic disorder, this new research might just be what you’ve been looking for.

Until now, the only explanation for panic disorder and certain behavioral conditions has been based solely on a descriptive analysis arrived at by looking at the symptoms, i.e.: “Panic disorder is anxiety out of control.”

Research is currently under way at the University of Iowa College of Medicine to find a fool-proof way to identify these conditions. A current study has discovered a method that will make it possible to identify panic disorder and a person’s chances of getting it. The method used involves a simple blood test. Such blood tests are already being developed.

Leader of the study is Robert Philibert, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry a UI.  He says that through these tests, the medical profession will be able to reach a diagnosis based on genetic information. This will also help his research team to better understand the process that initiates and maintains panic disorder.

His study revealed that while some genes were more “expressed”, others were less “expressed” where panic disorder was present. Basically, people with panic disorder showed different gene patterns.

Panic disorder is considered to exist when the attacks occur a minimum of once every four weeks. Such attacks can have up to 10 symptoms such as sweating, feeling of loss of control, fear of dying, shortness of breath, palpitations, a sense of dread, and dizziness. It is common for people experiencing a panic attack to seek treatment at an emergency facility because he or she is convinced they are having a heart attack, as the symptoms are very similar.

The goal of the study and the development of this simple procedure to identify the disorder is to help people manage their condition and prevent it from interfering with the quality of their lives.

Dr. Philibert hopes this new research will help in the discovery of new non-drug therapies in the treatment of panic disorder.

You can get more help on my Anxiety Cure Pages.

As many of my readers know, I am helping a few people out with their anxiety-related questions and concerns. Every once in awhile, I share the results of that communication with my readers here. So here’s my latest.

Of course I’m not going to reveal anything private about these individuals, so don’t think I’m betraying them. I choose to share them here because they often relate to situations that are common among anxiety-sufferers, like I used to be.

Are you facing a stressful event and feeling panicked and anxious about the whole ordeal?

In my experience, one of the best ways to get over a lot of the anxiety is simply to prepare. Often, what we fear is the unknown. We fear whether we will have a panic attack at the event and embarrass ourselves. We fear we won’t be able to cope with the attack on our own. We dread the whole idea of being isolated from our support network.

The person who wrote me was very concerned about the persistent panic and anxiety she was experiencing about a public speaking event several hours away from her home and family. She was afraid that somewhere between her home and during her stay she would suffer an attack. This fear of an attack was perhaps greater than her fear of making the speech.

By constantly thinking about the anxiety attack that might not even happen, she was seriously considering backing out of going. I’m sure this situation is familiar to many of you. I’ve been there. I’ve cancelled numerous outings because of that same fear.

What I learned, however, is that making preparations beforehand benefited me greatly for a number of reasons.

1. Knowing more about the place made it that much less foreboding. 
2. Making sure I prepared put me more in control of the situation and how I would react.
3. Having a pre-arranged support network in place ahead of my visit provided the comfort I needed to know I wouldn’t be alone.

My advice to those of you experiencing such anxiety is this.

First and foremost, do whatever you can to take control. In other words, control the things you can and ignore the rest.

Pay a visit to the destination before the event. Familiarize yourself with the surroundings, where you’ll be making the speech, where you’ll be staying. Talk to the staff and make some ‘friends’ to lessen the feelings of isolation. Be conscious of the fact that there is always the telephone and that family, friends and other supports are still within reach.

Check the neighborhood to locate the nearest clinic or hospital where you can go should things get out of control. Just knowing that these services are available to you will often be enough to help you deal with your anxiety.

Realize that as long as your destination remains unknown to you, you will continue to do what we humans were designed to do – fear the unknown.

Make a list of all the resources that will be available, including any relaxation tapes, stress-relieving services like massages and swimming facilities, mental health facilities and drop-in clinics.

Perhaps more important is to find a ’safe haven’ to which you can always retreat. This might be your car, the familiarity of a public library, local park or waterfront, or any other location that tends to give you inner comfort naturally.

Of course, some of the best advice is that you force yourself to focus only on the positive. Whenever a negative thought or idea enters your head, twist it so you can see the positive. That positive might be nothing more than the sense of achievement you will feel simply by having passed through the event unscathed and intact. Just imagine how great you will feel after you have tackled what once seemed impossible.

Having made the effort and succeeded, you will be better able to repeat the process in the future. Each time you do, your confidence will climb, your self esteem will improve, and your anxiety will gradually disappear.

If you want more help, Click Here.