One afternoon while she was preparing dinner in her kitchen, Anne Peters, a 32-year-old American housewife, suddenly had severe pains in her chest accompanied by shortness of breath. Frightened by the thought that she was having a heart attack, Anne screamed for help. Her husband immediately rushed Anne to a nearby hospital where her pains were diagnosed as having been caused by panic, and not a heart attack.
More and more Americans nowadays are having panic attacks like the one experienced by Anne Peters. Benjamin Crocker, a psychologist at the University of Southern California, reveal that as many as ten million adult Americans have already experienced or will experience at least one panic attack in their lifetime. Moreover, studies conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health in the United States disclose that approximately 1.2 million adult individuals are currently suffering from severe and recurrent panic attacks.
These attacks may last for only a few minutes; some, however, continue for several hours. The symptoms of panic attacks bear such remarkable similarity to those of heart attacks that many victims believe that they are indeed having a heart attack.
Panic attack victims show the following symptoms: they often become easily frightened or feel uneasy in situations where people normally would not be afraid; they suffer shortness of breath, experience chest pains, a quick heartbeat, sudden fits of trembling, a feeling that persons and things around them are not real; and most of all, a fear of dying or going crazy. A person seized by a panic attack may show all or as few as four of these symptoms.
There has been a lot of explanations as to the causes of panic attacks. Many claim that psychological stress could be a logical cause, but as yet, no evidence has been found to support this theory. However, studies show that more women than men experience panic attacks and people who drink a lot as well as those who use drugs are more likely to suffer attacks.
It is reported that there are at least three signs that indicate a person is suffering from a panic attack rather than a heart attack. The first is age. People between the ages of 20 and 30 are more often victims of panic attacks. The second is sex. More women suffer from recurrent panic attacks than men. The third is the multiplicity of symptoms. A panic attack victim usually suffers at least four of the previously mentioned symptoms, while a heart attack victim often experiences only pain and shortness of breath.
It is generally agreed that a panic attack does not directly endanger a person's life. All the same, it can unnecessarily disrupt a person's life by making him or her so afraid of having a panic attack in a public place that he or she may refuse to leave home and may eventually become isolated form the rest of society. Dr. Crocker's advice to any person who thinks he is suffering from a panic attack is to consult a doctor for a medical examination to rule out the possibilities of physical illness first. Once it has been confirmed that he or she is, in fact, suffering from a panic attack, the victim should seek psychological and medical help.
一位32刚的美国家庭妇女安妮o彼得斯，一有天下午正在厨房里做晚餐，突然她胸部剧痛，并发着呼吸短促。安妮感到恐怖，因为她想到这可能是心脏病发作了，于是她尖叫着喊救命。安妮的丈夫立即把她送到附近一家医院。在这家医院，她的胸痛被诊断是由恐怖症引起的，而不是心脏病发作。
现在不像以前了，有越来越多的美国人得了安妮o彼得斯所经历的这种恐怖症。据一位南加州大学的心理学家本杰明o克拉克披露的消息说，有多达一千万的美国成年人在一生中最低限度有过一次或将来准会有一次恐怖症发作的经历。此外，美国国立心理健康研究院所进行的反复调查研究的结果披露的资料说明，有近一百二十万美国成年人现在患有严重的反复发作的恐怖症。
这些恐怖症发作起来，有的只持续两三分钟，可是，也有的能持续好几个小时。这些恐怖症发作的种种症状与心脏病发作的那些症状有着十分明显的相似之处，以致有很多患者都认为他们确实是、真的是心脏病发作了。
恐怖症的患者都会表现出下列症状：一、他们很容易受到惊吓，甚至在正常情况下，一般人都不会感到害怕的场合下，他们都会感到神经紧张不安；二、他们呼吸短促，胸部疼痛，心跳加快，阵阵发抖；（这里应为"："号-译者注）三、他们觉得周围所有的人和种种情况都不是真实的；四、最为严重的是，有的害怕自己快要死了或快要发疯了。一个恐怖症发作了的人会表现出这一切症状或者说至少会表现出上述四种症状（一、二、三、四为本文译者所加）。
关于恐怖症发作的致病原因有很多种解释。很多人主张说心理上的紧张压力从逻辑上来说应该是致病的原因，不过到现在为止还根本没有发现有任何证据能支持这一理论。不过，多方面调查研究显示女人比男人恐怖症发作的经历多，嗜酒成癖的人和吸毒的人更容易犯恐怖症发作的病。
据报导至少有三种迹象可以表明某人得的是恐怖症而不是心脏病。第一是年龄，20到30之间的人更容易患恐怖症。第二是性别，女性比男性更容易患恐怖症。第三是症状的多样性。一位恐怖症患者通常至少会有本文先前提到的上述四种症状，而心脏病发作时患者通常只有疼痛和呼吸短促。
一般人都一致认为恐怖症发作时不会直接危及到一个人的生命。尽管如此，恐怖症会不必要地扰乱了一个人的生活秩序，会使一个为因为非常害怕恐怖症发作而不敢到公共场所去，结果这个患者就不敢离开家一步，终于导致与世隔绝。克拉克医生的嘱咐是，凡认为自己患有恐怖症的人都要请医生做体格检查以便首先排除有器质性病变的可能。一旦患者被确认为事实上得的是恐怖症，那么患者就应寻求心理治疗，配合药物治疗。
