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 According
to the National
Institute of Mental Health, over 6 million Americans
suffer from a panic disorder. Not everybody who experiences
an anxiety attack develops a panic/anxiety disorder. Anxiety
attacks, also called panic attacks, are usually very short
episodes of intense fear. Each person experiences his or her
anxiety attack symptoms differently, but
most have a combination of the same few symptoms:
*
Shortness of breath
* Sweating
* Chest pain
* Nausea/upset stomach
* Shaking
* Dizziness
* Tingling or numb hands
* Rapid heart beat
* Fear of dying/thinking you're going to die
* Feeling hot or cold
* Fear of going crazy or losing control
A lot of people end up in the emergency room when they first
experience a panic attack, their physical pain or discomfort
is so real they believe they are having a heart attack. Anxiety
attack symptoms can in some cases also be symptoms of a physical
condition like a heart attack, low blood sugar, or nicotine
poisoning, but in the vast majority of cases, doctors find
no physical reason for the symptoms.
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Although
panic attacks can very extremely uncomfortable, they are not
dangerous. It's common to think you're going to die when you
are in the midst of your attack, but you are actually perfectly
safe. What happens when you experience a panic attack is that
your body thinks it's under attack and goes into "fight
or flight" mode to be prepared to defend itself.
We
have all been in situations where we have felt threatened
by someone, or are scared by a loud noise, a near accident
etc. It's important to distinguish these kinds of reactions
from anxiety attacks. When you are scared by a potential,
real, external threat, you are experiencing fear, a perfectly
natural reaction to your circumstance. Anxiety attacks are
irrational, intense feelings of fear without there being any
real threat. They usually strike very fast an unexpectedly.
Some people experience panic attack symptoms without fearing
anything in particular, while others have very specific things
they are afraid off.
It
is not uncommon for someone who has experienced a panic attack
to develop a fear of future panic attacks. This "fear
of fear" becomes a vicious circle, where the fear of
having another attack can actually trigger one. Anxiety attacks
can be very debilitating; many sufferers gradually avoid both
situations in which they have previously experienced attacks,
and situations where they think they might experience a new
one. This kind of behavior; of gradually limiting their own
life, can lead to agoraphobia, another anxiety disorder in
which people are afraid of leaving the house. According to
the National Institute of Mental Health, about one out of
three people with a panic disorder become housebound.
Although
panic attacks can be very intense and painful experiences,
they are also very treatable. In most cases, cognitive behavioral
therapy, sometimes in combination which short term use of
anti anxiety medication, can eliminate the anxiety or reduce
anxiety attack symptoms to a level where they are no longer
debilitating.
Sources:
http://www.uaf.edu/chc/MentalHealth/panic.htm
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anxiety_types_symptoms_treatment.htm
http://www.health.harvard.edu/special_health_reports/Coping_with_Anxiety_and_Phobias.htm
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/complete-publication.shtml#pub2
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