A pounding heart, no air, the certainty that something is terribly wrong, and then the ER says you are fine. Panic disorder is one of the most treatable conditions in psychiatry, and treatment works faster than most people dare to hope.
Book an Appointment →A panic attack is a false alarm: the body’s full emergency system firing with no emergency. Chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, tingling, a feeling of unreality, the conviction you are dying or losing your mind. Many Virginians meet their first panic attack in an emergency room, where normal test results bring relief for about a day. What turns attacks into panic disorder is what happens next: the fear of the next attack, and the slow shrinking of life to avoid triggering one.
That avoidance is why panic disorder deserves real treatment rather than white-knuckling. Left alone, it recruits more territory: highways get avoided, then grocery stores, then anywhere far from an exit. The good news is genuinely good: panic disorder responds to treatment better and faster than almost any other psychiatric condition.
Treatment here combines an accurate evaluation (ruling out thyroid, cardiac, and medication causes, and checking for the depression that often tags along), first-line medications such as SSRIs and SNRIs that reliably lower the alarm threshold, and practical skills for handling an attack so it loses its power over your choices. Benzodiazepines are used sparingly and short-term when used at all. Care is in person in Fairfax or by telehealth anywhere in Virginia, which many panic patients strongly prefer: no drive, no waiting room, no fear of having an attack away from home.
Whether it started last month or a decade ago, the treatment path is clear and the response rate is high.
You are not imagining it, and you are not fine; you have a treatable condition the ER is not built to treat. This is the follow-up the discharge papers should have arranged.
When avoidance has already shrunk your map, telehealth is the door back: treatment starts from your safest room.
Waking mid-attack at 3 a.m. is common, terrifying, and treatable, and it is screened apart from sleep disorders that mimic it.
Related: Panic disorder overview · Anxiety care · Anxiety treatment across Virginia · Anxiety disorders: an overview
Often within weeks. SSRIs typically begin reducing attack frequency in two to four weeks, and understanding the false-alarm mechanism starts helping the very first visit.
Usually not. Long-term daily benzodiazepines are not the standard of care for panic disorder. First-line treatment is non-habit-forming medication plus skills; short-term benzodiazepine use is occasionally appropriate with a clear plan.
You get the medical workup first, and if you have not, Alice will insist on it. Once cardiac and thyroid causes are ruled out, recurrent attacks with fear of more attacks point clearly to panic disorder.
Yes, and often better: patients with panic keep telehealth appointments they would have avoided driving to. If an attack happens during a session, you are with exactly the right person.
In person in Fairfax & telehealth across Virginia. Most insurance accepted.
Book Now →Or call/text: (703) 791-9099
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