Are panic disorder and panic attacks the same thing or are they two separate conditions? In other words, does someone who suffers from panic attacks automatically get labelled as having panic disorder? The short answer to that question is no. Someone who suffers from panic attacks doesn’t necessarily have panic disorder.
First of all, throughout the world, every year, many people experience panic attacks first-hand. In a lot of cases, these attacks are isolated incidents and are usually triggered when the sufferer is experiencing extreme stress within their lives or when the person is faced with some heavy negative emotion. For example, following the death of a loved one etc.