Panic Disorder Vs. PTSD: Understanding the Difference

If we’re anxious, it can progress to panic, but is it the same as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a mental health condition where anxiety and other distressing feelings can be triggered after a traumatic or life-endangering experience? 

The fact is that although anxiety disorder and PTSD share some symptoms, they’re distinct. 

The highly skilled and compassionate care team at Clarity Psychiatric Care offers customized treatment to clients dealing with PTSD, panic attacks, and a host of other conditions, from depression and eating disorders to ADHD and addiction counseling. They’re fully committed to improving their clients’ quality of life with innovative treatment approaches, medication management, and education about self-care strategies.

How are panic disorder and PTSD different?

Intense fear and anxiety are symptoms of both panic disorder and PTSD, but there are also quite a few symptoms they don’t share. Each condition’s causes and treatments are also different.

First, let’s break down panic disorder and PTSD. 

Panic disorder can be triggered by many things and is a type of anxiety disorder that leads to full-blown, frightening panic attacks. These often happen when people aren’t in life-threatening or otherwise frightening situations. The physical symptoms of a panic attack include:

• Shaking
• Chills
• Sweating
• Racing heart
• Chest pain
• Nausea
• Numbness or a pins-and-needles sensation in your fingers or toes

The emotions that accompany these physical symptoms are equally upsetting. In fact, you may feel as if you’ll die, extremely fearful, or divorced from reality or yourself. You may also be afraid you’ll lose control or feel like you can’t breathe.

A panic attack lasts anywhere from five to 20 agonizing minutes. The mystifying thing is that frequently, there’s not a known trigger for a person’s panic attacks. However, if they live with a phobia of some sort, being in a situation where they have to face it may trigger a panic attack. 

PTSD is a condition that’s specifically linked to a past traumatic event, such as fighting in combat, witnessing a violent crime, or being the victim of a sexual assault. Surviving a natural disaster can also lead to PTSD. 

PTSD symptoms revolve around three specific things:

• Symptoms related to reliving the traumatic event (nightmares, flashbacks, intrusive thoughts)
• Avoidance behaviors, like not returning to where the event occurred and skirting memories
• Hyperarousal symptoms like startling easily, problems with focusing, and feeling irritable

You can see where symptoms commingle between the two conditions, and this is why it can get confusing. If you have PTSD, you can experience a panic attack and those physical symptoms, like breathing problems or a racing heart. The difference is that the symptoms don’t come out of nowhere, as they often do with a panic attack. Instead, they’re directly related to experiencing the trauma again and are triggered by thoughts, dreams, and memories about it. 

Additionally, when a person living with PTSD experiences hyperarousal symptoms, like feeling distress due to loud fireworks, this can also spur a panic attack. 

Despite the symptoms that panic attacks and PTSD share, the important dissimilarities between them include:

1. Triggers

PTSD is triggered by a specific traumatic event. In contrast, a panic attack can be triggered by something traumatic. Still, it can also be fueled by something quite ordinary or random.

2. Lingering versus sudden symptoms onset

The effects of a traumatic event are lasting, and a panic attack occurs suddenly, seemingly without warning, and is typically brief.

3. Physical versus emotional symptoms

A panic attack is accompanied by intense physical symptoms, while PTSD symptoms include intrusive thoughts, avoidance coping strategies, and the hyperarousal we referred to earlier. 

This doesn’t mean that a person living with PTSD never has physical symptoms (since they can experience a panic attack) or that someone living with panic disorder only struggles with physical symptoms. It’s just that the physical symptoms are more pronounced and frequent with panic disorder. 

Fortunately, appropriate treatment can ease both PTSD and panic disorder symptoms.

Treatment for PTSD and panic disorder

At Clarity Psychiatric Care, we offer comprehensive treatment for both PTSD and anxiety-related panic disorder, after a thorough evaluation is done and we arrive at a definitive diagnosis.

Because our approach is interdisciplinary and multi-pronged, we may recommend a combination of treatments, such as medication, a referral for counseling, and lifestyle changes so you can build a reliable toolbox for relief from disruptive anxiety symptoms like panic attacks.

For PTSD, you may also be prescribed a blend of treatments, with the goal of therapy being to tame triggers, manage your fears, and work through the lasting impact a trauma has had on your life.

We’re dedicated to designing a treatment plan that meets your unique needs.

If you’re struggling with panic attacks or PTSD, contact our Cherry Hill office at 856-428-1260 to make an appointment with us or use our convenient online booking tool.