The 4 Differences Between Panic Disorder And Phobia
Despite its bad reputation, fear is a natural emotion and necessary for human survival. Thanks to it, we are able to identify dangers in the environment and respond effectively to them. If we never felt fear, we simply would not have gotten to where we are today as a species.
Fear can begin to be a problem when it appears in situations that are not objectively dangerous or when its intensity is excessive according to the context. In these cases, it is possible that the person is suffering from some type of psychopathological disorder.
It should be noted that there are numerous problems in psychology that have fear as a central element in common. However, there are also important differences between them that need to be known.
In particular, in this article we will talk about the differences between panic disorder and phobias.
Panic disorder is defined as an anxiety disorder in which the person suffers from recurring crises that appear without any apparent danger. These crises begin suddenly and are accompanied by marked physical symptoms (tachycardia, sweating, difficulty breathing, tremors, tingling…), which makes the individual believe that they are suffering from a serious medical problem, such as a heart attack.
The crises that make up panic disorder can last several minutes, although this depends on the person. What is usually common to all patients is the intense fear of a new panic episode occurring in the future. This gives rise to a series of avoidance behaviors, through which the person tries not to frequent those scenarios that he considers are more conducive to the crisis occurring. This tendency can start little by little, although it progressively leads the individual to a significant isolation from his or her environment. Everyday activities such as taking public transport or walking down the street can be experienced with very intense anxiety.
Panic attacks are not life-threatening or dangerous, but they cause a lot of discomfort and interference with the normal functioning of the individual. The person feels that they are going crazy, that they are losing control and that they may even die.
In some patients, crises occur only a few times, and are usually linked to moments of great stress. However, in other cases these can be repeated on many occasions, lengthening the disorder over time with all that this implies.
What is a phobia?
Phobias are also recognized as a type of anxiety disorder. However, these are characterized by a reaction of extreme fear when faced with a specific stimulus, which can be an animal, an object, a situation, etc Generally, the elements that generate phobias are not objectively dangerous. However, they induce intense discomfort in a part of the population.
As we have already mentioned, fear is a necessary emotion for the survival of human beings. Since childhood, we all experience evolutionary fears typical of the first stages of development. Among them, fear of the dark, strangers or certain animals are especially common. However, these fears usually fade with the simple passage of time, and generally no type of professional intervention is required.
However, adults can also feel intense fears directed towards very specific elements. In these cases, it is often necessary to have the support of a professional, since these fears usually constitute phobias that interfere with normal life. Phobias differ from evolutionary fears in that they are not usually adaptive. While childhood fears often encourage the child’s proximity to caregivers to keep them away from danger, phobias are often an obstacle to well-being.
Phobias are usually classified into two categories. On the one hand, those that are simple or specific. These refer to concrete and well-defined elements. The most common refer to animals (spiders, snakes, mice), the environment (germs, heights), the body (blood, vomit, injections), sexual (STDs) or situational (stage fright, flying). On the other hand, complex phobias are those related to more complex scenarios, among which agoraphobia (fear of open and public spaces) or social phobia stand out.
The 4 differences between panic disorder and phobia
As we mentioned previously, panic disorder and phobia share the common element of fear. However, since these are independent problems, they also have some important differences. Next, we are going to talk about them.
One of the most relevant differences between panic disorder and phobia lies in the identification of the focus of fear. In panic disorder, the person does not identify a specific source that generates fear. In fact, their crises occur suddenly and unpredictably without any apparent danger. This generates confusion in the patient, who does not know when and where the next crisis can take place.
On the contrary, in phobias the person does know well what the focus of their fear is. The phobic stimulus is well identified, which means that the person only feels fear when it appears. In short, the anxiety response is much more predictable than when we talk about a panic disorder.
2. Concern about future episodes
In relation to the previous point, another of the main differences between phobia and panic disorder lies in the worry that the person feels about the future. In the case of panic disorder, concern about the possibility of future crises becomes the core of the person’s life. She begins to avoid certain places for fear of experiencing that feeling of loss of control again or going crazy.
On the contrary, In phobias there is not so much concern about the future. The person knows what the focus of her fear is and can predict to some extent whether she will be exposed to it. If, for example, he has a phobia of blood, he may not feel any concern unless an analysis with his doctor is approaching in time. In general, we can say that there is less uncertainty than in panic disorder.
3. Duration
The duration of the emotional reaction of fear can also be a point of difference. In panic disorder, the crisis usually lasts a few minutes. It is a self-defined episode, which ends as soon as it begins. It is something like a wave that grows until it finally breaks and breaks on the shore.
Instead, the emotional reaction of phobias is maintained while the person is being exposed to the phobic stimulus. If, for example, a person suffers from a phobia of heights and goes up to a rooftop, it is possible that his anxiety will not calm down until he goes back down and stops exposing himself to said situation.
Since these are different problems, the treatment of each one also involves different nuances.
In the case of panic disorder, the mental health professional usually focuses on helping the patient recreate the symptoms that cause panic attacks. This way, The sessions are a type of simulation in which the person can relive those sensations in a controlled and safe way.
Over time, the goal is to stop these sensations from being perceived as a threat or a sign that you are going to lose control. In phobias, the core of treatment is usually aimed at progressive exposure to phobic stimuli. To make this process easier, the psychotherapist teaches the person some relaxation techniques that are useful to instill a state of calm incompatible with the anxiety typically associated with these situations.
Conclusions
In this article we have talked about some differences between panic disorder and phobias. Fear is a natural and necessary emotion for our survival, since thanks to it we are able to detect the dangers in the environment and react accordingly. However, the truth is that fear can also be a problem when it appears in situations where there is no real danger. If this happens, the person may be suffering from a psychological disorder linked to anxiety.
Among these types of problems, there are two especially common ones: panic disorder and phobias. Although both share fear as a central element, the reality is that they also have some differences.
On the one hand, phobias are linked to a specific stimulus that triggers fear in the person. However, in panic disorder the person feels terrified suddenly and unexpectedly, without any apparent danger. Added to this, phobias are not usually related to worry about the future, while in panic disorder the person lives worried about the possible appearance of new crises in the future. Finally, the treatment of each one is also focused in somewhat different directions.
