Panic Disorder and Fatherhood: Anxiety in the Dad

Abstract

Panic attacks bring on intense fear or discomfort which can reach its peak within minutes. Specifically, symptoms of losing control, going crazy or dying are very disconcerting and often cause people to seek help in the middle of the night. In Angelo’s case, the episodes of panic related to the arrival of the baby were completely unexpected. Also, having not been diagnosed with these episodes when he lived in Nicaragua, their appearance in his early 30s came as a complete shock. He was aware that there was a lot of anxiety around coming to Canada; however, the early signs of headaches, sore neck and short fuse were not bothersome enough to take notice of. Angelo was aware that his asthma episodes might come back. Another scary issue with regard to the onset of his panic attacks was their occurrence in the middle of the night. Angelo’s first panic episode, where 911 was called, occurred at one am in the morning. Another symptom that was unexplainable was feelings of dizziness and numbness and tingling. A few times, he woke Raphaella with this very uncomfortable sensation; however, because the baby was so young and was waking up through the night, Angelo’s own suffering and distress took a backseat. The particular night when the ambulance was called, he was experiencing a sense of unreality and felt that he was outside of his own body, looking at himself, with feelings of depersonalization.