Information on both the physical and emotional aspects of the attacks can be very useful to the doctor in making a diagnosis. For example, the doctor will want to know if your attacks, or fear of having attacks, keep you from carrying out any of your normal activities. Depression is accompanied by an impaired ability to think, concentrate, and enjoy the normal pleasures of life. Be sure to make your doctor aware of these symptoms as well. If you have been drinking or using drugs to try to control your symptoms, let your doctor know about that too.
Research shows that both kinds of treatment can be very effective.
For many patients, the combination of medication and psychotherapy appears to be more effective than either treatment alone. Early treatment can help keep panic disorder from progressing. These patterns of thinking are deeply ingrained, and it will take practice to notice them and then to change them. A therapist can teach you breathing exercises that calm you and that can prevent the overbreathing, or hyperventilation, that often occurs during a panic attack. A therapist can help you gradually become less sensitive to the frightening bodily sensations and feelings of terror.