Question:
While I am posting, does anyone know when panic attack disorder
or anxiety started being diagnosed by medical doctors?
Answer:
So many of us share the same, yet different, stories about trips to ERs
and specialists, etc. and walking away without a diagnosis.
I am amazed at how many doctors still fail to diagnose panic disorder.
My former doctor sent me to a prominent local Ear, Nose and Throat
doctor, who, after i had to wait 8 weeks for the appointment, told me I
was fine. Then my former doctor referred me to a very prominent clinic
in Buffalo, NY, and after waiting another 2 months to see this
specialist, he said he couldn't find anything except maybe he thought I
might have TMJ!!!! At that point is when I started educating myself
about the symptoms and found a new doctor who has been wonderful and
well informed. I would hate to tally up the medical expenses I incurred
while being told there was nothing wrong with me.
So many doctors, IMHO, need to be re-educated!!!
I can remember two Aunts who were diagonsed as depressed in 1977. I think a lot
of disorders were classified as depression back then. Looking back now at the
way they behaved I believe they had panic attacks. They were both also Diabetic
and were constantly being "commited" to a place called "Fair Oaks" in Summit New
Jersey. They used to give them shock treatments and Valium. I think people are
still misdiagnosed (I was told I had asthma, allergies etc, infact once a doctor
told me if my heart did not slow down, he was going to make it slow down)) but I
don't ever remember hearing the term panic attack until the 1980's.
For the full story, in all its gory details, see the "chronology" in
the ASAP Dictionary (http://www.netaxs.com/people/aca3/asap-ala.htm).
In brief, Panic Disorder (PD) has been around since, at least, the
beginning of civilization. It was generally considered some form of
cowadice at first. Then the Greeks labeled it "hypochondria" in men
and "hysteria" in women. Following the collapse of Greek and Roman
civilization, PD was interpreted in the context of sin and witchcraft.
Then, during Europe's more "romantic" years, PD was thought to be the
result of too little sex, and treatments consisted of early marriage
and plenty of enemas. By the late 1800s, psychoanalytic (Freudian)
interpretations attributed PD to traumatic childhood experiences.
And by the late 1900s doctors started to realize that panic attacks
could be caused by hormone and/or neurotransmitter imbalances.
As Philip mentioned, modern diagnosis of PD is attributed to
recognition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), which
is the handbook for most psychologists and psychiatrists these days.
However, PD, under other labels, has been diagnosed since the time of
Hipocrites (the ancient Greek doctor).
