[Scott Schneider]

Hi Anxiety/Panic Group,

I was in a session with a psychiatrist the other day in the practice I usually go to. Unfortunately my usual psychiatrist was out of town for a couple of weeks. In the discussion of medication changes, particularly my asking for a stronger-acting benzo to combat panic attacks I've been having, this particular dr told me that "95% of adults have panic attacks". I'm not even sure what he means by this - as panic disorder is prevalent in only a small percentage of the population. Do you think he's full of crap, as nowhere have I seen this statistic cited on anxiety/panic websites or articles.

[pegasus]

Wow! "95% of adults have panic attacks." Can you imagine that? Seriously! Not a good visual. I would talk to your normal psychiatrist if I were you.

Did you know that 114% of statistics are total crap??

Sorry - 95% is way high.

[Scott Schneider]

I think that too - I help people on Facebook with anxiety and panic issues and everybody had them then why would they be disorders?? I even called the guy last night when he was on-call covering for my therapist after hours and asked him about it and he didn't want to answer it.

[venusss]

I think he meant that they experience some sort of anxiety or something

He probably doesn't want to prescribe benzos since you aren't his regular patient....but he approached it wrong.

[Hellion]

I think it can be possible for people without anxiety disorders to have panic attacks in certain situations...its just not nearly as frequent as it occurs with anxiety disorders. Maybe 95% of adults have had 'a' panic attack...but that is hardly the same thing as having them consistently.

Though I don't see how that is relevant to the discussion of switching to a stronger benzo for panic attacks seems a bit dismissive in that context.

[Scott Schneider]

Dismissive - yeah - it sounded like that to me as well. Panic attacks are HUGE deals. I explained to him that I've had onset of panic disorder over the last 3 weeks - he decided he would prescribe me hydroxizine, which left me hungover and groggy yesterday.

[atomicc]

I think he was totally off on this. It seems like he was trying to minimize your issues and tell you that every one goes through it, but it's definitely not the way to go about it. If he didn't think you needed a higher dose, or didn't want to prescribe it he should have just said so. not condescend.

[Hellion]

Originally Posted by Scott Schneider

Dismissive - yeah - it sounded like that to me as well. Panic attacks are HUGE deals. I explained to him that I've had onset of panic disorder over the last 3 weeks - he decided he would prescribe me hydroxizine, which left me hungover and groggy yesterday.

I've had hydroxizine I think if thats the anti-histamine one and it didn't really do anything for me....was rather sedating so it kind of slowed the physical anxiety reactions but did nothing for like the racing thoughts or anxious feelings.