Panic attacks are a frightening experience to endure. They are a
terrifying downward spiral of anxiety for the person experiencing
it. An attack can leave the victim and those around feeling
bewildered and unable to help. Identifying the signs of a panic
attack is the first step to conquering the issue.
Realize that one of the early sensations in a panic attack is often one of impending
doom as though something awful is about to happen. Often, this sense is joined by
terrible anxiety without any apparent cause.
Understand that these feelings are the result of a flood of adrenaline flowing
through your body. Consequently, there is tremendous fear, a sense that you are
about to die, but no apparent threat. Your body creates one.
Know the symptoms that make you think you're having a heart attack. A person
having a panic attack may have all the symptoms of a heart attack-chest pain,
shortness of breath, arm pain. The symptoms are very real and are not imagined.
Here some additional symptoms.
Adrenaline itself will make your heart beat faster, make you sweat and make you
shaky. With all this going on, you may very well begin shallow, very fast breathing.
This creates another condition called hyperventilation, which ties up calcium in your
blood stream. This in turn causes nerves to tingle and muscles to cramp, sometimes
causing pronounced tingling in the face and forcing hands into tight fists with fingers
that can't be straightened.
Recognize the panic attack when it occurs. A combination of a sense of impending
doom, severe anxiety, a racing heart, shakiness, numbing about the face and
muscle cramps as a classic presentation for a panic attack. Panic attacks can have
a variety of other accompanying symptoms including chest pain, shortness of
breath, dizziness, blurred vision and disorientation.
There is no simple test that will confirm panic attacks. If you are having repeated
episodes with symptoms similar to those described, panic attacks should be
considered.
The following list identifies the most common panic attack symptoms.
Experiencing four or less of these panic attack symptoms identifies what is
called a limited symptom attack.
Common Panic Attack Symptoms
10-panic-attacks-symptoms
„h Rapid heartbeat, pounding heart or palpitations
„h Sweating
„h Shaking visibly or inside
„h Choking sensations or lump in throat (Globus Hystericus)
„h Smothering or shortness of breath sensations
„h Chest pain or discomfort
„h Nausea, bloating, indigestion or abdominal discomfort
„h Dizziness or unsteadiness , feeling light -headed
„h Derealization (feeling unreal or dreamy)
„h Depersonalization (feeling outside yourself or like you don't exist)
„h Fear of losing control or going crazy
„h Paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations) in face, extremities or body
„h Chills or hot flushes
„h Skin losing color
„h Blushing or skin blotches
„h Urgently needing to urinate or defecate
„h Inappropriate/Disturbed thoughts
„h Muscle pain, especially in neck or shoulders
Panic attacks are, like all anxiety disorders, caused by an imbalance
in the organ responsible for the anxiety response called the
Amygdala. This organ acts like an anxiety switch - it is the 'Anxiety
Control Center' in the brain.
Normally, the switch is in the OFF position and only gets activated
when it's appropriate
to feel anxious. In anxiety disorders this switch gets stuck in the ON
position. So, if an anxiety disorder is to be eliminated completely, it
is this imbalanced anxious response which needs to be addressed
directly.
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