Panic, Emotions, and No Words To Explain It All

Panic disorder and the inability to express emotions (alexithymia) may be related, according to a new study:

In patients with panic disorder (PD), the difficulty to identify and manage emotional experience might contribute to the enduring vulnerability to panic attacks. Such a difficulty might reflect a dysfunction of fronto-temporo-limbic circuits.

Moments of extreme panic—catastrophic thinking, anxiety—-in Charlie (as when his sense of the order of things if violated) are often accompanied by him not being able to communicate. Rather than words coming out at these moments, it’s often a physical reaction or outburst. And what do you do if you don’t have enough words, or ones that others readily understand, to express anger, sorrow, and more?