PANIC DISORDER Peter Malhaela shares how he tried to hide his constant fear from the world.

More on the DVD "Living with Panic Disorder"

Fear, nausea, heart palpitations, terror, a sense of impending doom, dizziness, fear of fear – these are the words commonly used to describe panic disorder. But there is hope: treatment can benefit virtually everyone.

In "Living with Panic Disorder", Peter Malhaela shares how he at first didn’t realise what was happening to him and wanted to hide from everyone. Treatment and support have helped him on the difficult road to living with this disorder and today he lives a happy and satisfying live.

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More on panic disorder

People sometimes assume that having a panic attack is the same as feeling nervous or anxious – the sort of feelings we all experience and with which everyone is familiar. However, although people who experience panic attacks may show no outward signs of discomfort, the symptoms they have are so overwhelming and terrifying that they really believe they are going to die, lose their minds or be totally humiliated. Even though these fears don’t materialise, to the person suffering the panic attack it seems very likely that they will indeed occur.

Panic disorder is when panic attacks recur and the sufferer develops an intense fear of having another attack. This fear is usually present most of the time, and seriously interferes with the person's life even when the panic attack is not in progress. In addition, the person may develop intense irrational fears called phobias about situations during which they experienced a previous panic attack. For example, someone who had a panic attack while driving in heavy traffic may be afraid to get behind the wheel again, even if only to drive to the local supermarket. People who develop these panic-induced phobias tend to avoid situations which they fear will trigger another panic attack, and their lives may be increasingly limited as a result. Their work may suffer because they can't travel or get to work on time. Relationships may be strained or marred by conflict, as panic attacks, or the fear of them, control the affected person and those around them.