Recognize Panic Attacks Symptoms- Find Permanent Relief Now
If you have ever experienced a panic attack, you know that it is one of the most alarming and discomforting experiences ever. This is partly due to the excessively high level of fear that is felt, but also because panic attacks symptoms combine physical and mental symptoms.
Let’s take a look at some of the most common panic attacks symptoms, learn how they interact with one another, and what you could potentially do to make future attacks shorter.
Physical Panic Attacks Symptoms
Most people who experience panic attacks remember the physical symptoms the most. In fact, the symptoms that are felt through the body are so terrifying that it is not uncommon for some sufferers to develop a fear of experiencing them again.
Most sufferers will experience some level of accelerated heart rate. It may feel as if your chest is pounding and you cannot catch your breath, which may lead to gasping for air. This may also be accompanied by chest pains which may be confused with a heart attack. Of course, if in doubt about whether they are panic attacks symptoms or indications of a heart attack, one should seek emergency help immediately.
You may also experience a sudden wave of nausea, hot flashes, or chills. Many sufferers will also feel lightheaded or dizzy while others may feel off balance which can lead to stumbling or potentially falling. What makes all of these symptoms so alarming is they come on suddenly, often with absolutely no real obvious cause.
Mental Panic Attacks Symptoms
Those physical symptoms are accompanied by and often caused by other symptoms occurring inside the mind. While there are a variety of panic attacks symptoms that vary from person to person and even attack to attack, what ties them all together is an overriding sense of fear, or “panic.” It is as if the body has entered the fight or flight state without any danger or threat being presented.
This fear may lead to a sense of escape where you just need to get away from your current location. Or, some other sufferers may feel detached from the situation as if it is occurring to someone else, which may make it difficult to for them to move or react. Exactly what is so terrifying that you need to escape or freeze up is unknown but the sense of danger is extreme.
Due to the extreme physical symptoms, many sufferers have additional fear in their minds because they think they are having a heart attack or may actually die.
Dealing with Panic Attack Symptoms
An attack may last just a minute, or as long as several minutes. If you suffer routine attacks or are afraid that another one may occur, it is essential to realize that your reaction to the initial symptoms of the attack could determine its length and level of discomfort.
The typical reaction to an attack is intense anxiety and fear, which adds onto the fear that is already present. This escalates the physical symptoms and can even extend the length of the attack.
Those who learn deep breathing and other relaxing exercises could reduce the length of an attack by calming their mind and body at the very first signs of an oncoming attack. This is quite difficult to do because of the panic sensation that comes so suddenly, but in many cases those who are able to practice deep breathing, mediation, yoga, and other relaxing exercises on a daily basis are able to reduce the amount of anxiety and increase their odds of reacting in a better manner when an attack comes on.
Exploring Methods For Treating Anxiety Disorder
The options for treating anxiety disorders are quite varied. Unless you have experienced the symptoms of a full-on anxiety attack, you cannot understand how important effective treatment can be for sufferers. There are many triggers that bring on anxiety symptoms and even generalized anxiety disorders that have no defined triggers. Each person is different in the level of anxiety experienced in an attack but one of the common threads is the dread or fear of recurrence. This is especially true when a person suffers with panic attacks with no well-defined lit fuses.
One of the first things tried by anxiety disorder suffers, often before seeking diagnosis and treatment, is to find ways to avoid the causes they are aware of. This can be useful when a very specific trigger is identified and the avoidance of that trigger does not dramatically impact normal life. When an anxiety is centered on common life situations, simple avoidance can be very limiting to a normal life. Even when an initial anxiety cause is easily avoided, some people find themselves encountering additional triggers when professional treatment is not sought. So it is best not to ignore treating anxiety disorders.
It is easy for a person’s friends and loved ones to belittle an anxiety sufferer with such phrases as ‘it’s all in your mind’ or ‘just get over it’. They do not realize that the sufferer would do almost anything to ‘get over it’ if he/she could. Far too many folks suffer with anxiety without seeking treatment because of the way their friends and family act in response to their symptoms. The way some view the benefits of treating anxiety disorder and the perceived futility of treatment keeps too many people trapped in misery that is actually very escapable.
With so many options available for treating anxiety disorder there is no reason for any person to continue suffering alone. There are medical/pharmaceutical options with varying levels of effectiveness. There are behavior-based treatments that commonly take one of two different approaches.
Cognitive-behavior treatment for anxiety involves teaching the patient to recognize those thought patterns that lead to anxiety. When the irrational thoughts are recognized the patient can learn to challenge the beliefs that fuel the anxiety. There is a right way and a wrong way to do this; if done correctly it can be a very effective method for treating anxiety disorders of various types.
Many anxiety sufferers have been successfully treated with exposure therapy. In a safe, controlled environment the patient experiences exposure to the trigger of his/her anxiety. As the increasing exposure is dealt with, without the patient being harmed, the irrational responses gradually diminish to the point where they stop being a problem.
Sometimes medical treatments are added to behavior-based treatments in the early stages to aid in the initial success. As the patient begins responding well to the behavior treatments the drug therapy is gradually eliminated. This approach to treating anxiety disorders is often successful. However not all sufferers respond successfully. Non-specific anxiety is hard to treat with exposure-based therapy for obvious reasons but cognitive therapy combined with anti-anxiety drugs can be very successful.
Recently, new anxiety treatments have been used successfully ‘ either alone or in combination. Believe it or not, exercise is one of nature’s stress busters and anxiety relievers. A friend of mine depends heavily on daily exercise to help keep her emotional reactions under control. The mental concentration on an exercise regimen helps break apart the thought patterns that trigger anxiety. Some success has been seen treating anxiety disorders with relaxation techniques, biofeedback and even hypnosis. Anxiety sufferers should not be afraid to try alternative therapies if the first treatment approaches are unsuccessful.
Recognize Anxiety Disorder Symptoms- Find Permanent Relief Now
Anxiety disorders are surprisingly common, with millions of sufferers in the U.S. alone. All of the main variations continue to be split up into smaller and more specific groups as the disorder is more heavily researched. This is great for someone with an anxiety disorder symptom because it means that you are more likely to correctly identify and treat the problem. It is key that you understand the workings of your mind and correctly gauge your reactions to stress and anxiety.
If a person experiences occasional anxiety, it does not mean you are specifically exhibiting an anxiety disorder symptom. Anxiety is the body’s natural response to outside pressures, deadlines, and struggles. When it starts taking over your life, however, or you often times do not even realize why you feel anxious, then you may have a more serious problem. Anxiety should be the body’s way of helping you get things done or care about things. It should not ever become a health problem.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a very common variation. Many people have some of the symptoms of this to some small degree. It involves weird fascinations with things, ritualistic behavior for every day tasks, and obsessive cleanliness. People often feel urged to complete a task in a very certain manner or perhaps a certain number of times.
Panic Disorders are a little more intense than other types of anxiety. They generally involve an intense confusion and fear that can strike at any time, often rendering a person unable to do anything else except panic for a period of time. Sometimes people can feel the panic attack coming and can do certain things based on their condition to stop it. There can be nausea and dizziness that proceed or accompany the attack. It can be caused by severe stress in a person’s life, or by nothing at all.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is one arguably the most challenging in terms of how the disorder came into being and in terms of curing it. This occurs when someone has suffered an intense trauma in their life like war, rape, or abuse. There can be panic attacks, flashbacks, or any number of different symptoms. So the key is to be able to link the anxiety disorder symptom with one or more specific triggering events.
Social anxiety disorder can be easier to figure out by a person’s absolute loathing of social situations. The individual can stutter or get tongue tied when made to speak. They can constantly blush or can sweat profusely. It is a branch of phobias and can lead people to being extremely lonely and reclusive.
Women are more likely to have these disorders. Adults get them more than children, as children tend to have less stress in their lives. Kids should still be watched for any signs of these anxiety disorder symptoms, as it can lead to further problems as a child develops and grows with the disorder. The only one which seems to be normal for children is separation anxiety. Most children should grow out of this on their own, however.
There is no single approach for treatment for the many anxiety disorder symptoms. As discussed elsewhere on this site, one approach that has had success is a combination of prescription drugs and therapy, often supervised by a psychiatrist. In this way, one can stop the surface symptoms from happening and can get the underlying cause solved, as a permanent solution. Some people will never fully recover and will have to be medicated and in therapy for the rest of their lives. There are one or two comprehensive treatment methods that avoid the use of drugs altogether and have had a startlingly high success rate; our email mini-course provides the details for those; sign up in the upper right-hand corner of this page.
