This past week in abnormal psychology we covered various different things but the teacher talked alot about panic disorder and post traumatic stress disorder. Panic disorder is a serious situation because people with this disorder can suffer through episodes in which they feel like they are dying or losing control of what is going on around them. And since people who suffer from this condition do not know when a panic attack is going to occur they can also develop what is known as agoraphobia, which is a condition where a person feels trapped in a particular place or situation. Some of the typical places that are avoided by people with agoraphobia are shopping malls, cars, buses, trains, subways, wide streets, tunnels, restaurants, theaters, supermarkets, stores, planes, elevators and escalators. Today there is both psychological treatment and medicine that is used to treat people who suffer from the condition of panic attacks. Often the process of exposure to feared situations is used to help people overcome their panic disorder. This process is done by arranging situations in which a patient can gradually face there panic attacking situation and learn that there is not really a need to be in a state of such panic. Even though most patients rationally know there is not a real reason to be afraid of their panic it is helpful for them to be convinced of this emotionally. Sometimes therapists will accompany their patients when they are conducting their exposure exercises. Panic is an interesting component that can be studied in the field of psychology because naturally panic occurs for all people so they can gain an understanding of how dangerous a situation can be but as research shows panic can be escalated to an extreme level through PTSD or other factors, which can make it hard for certain people to function in everyday circumstance. And also because research seems to show that panic can be developed over a wide spectrum of circumstances that cause people to have extreme fear. It will be interesting to learn more about these serious conditions of anxiety and panic in the Essential of Abnormal Psychology textbook.