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How to identify a Panic Attack and the most common symptoms.

Learn how to identify a panic attack.

What Does it Feel Like to Have a Panic Attack?

Take a moment and hold your breath. Keep holding it. Soon your heart is hammering in your chest and your struggling to breathe. Your face is beet red and you feel as if you are losing control and you are going to die. Then you have an idea of what a panic attack feels like. This could help you identify a panic attack.

A panic attack, or anxiety attack, is an episode where a person feels severe anxiety with physical symptoms, for a limited amount of time. While they may seem like they will last forever, they do end, leaving the person unharmed for the most part. They can happen at any time and at any place.  More importantly, while they happen more often to people with a mental illness, like depression or an anxiety disorder, they can also happen to anyone.

What Causes a Panic Attack?

There can be several different causes of panic attacks. One common cause is called dysfunctional thinking. Dysfunctional thinking is when the person has such a bad, negative, or unrealistic view on events that it triggers severe anxiety, fear, or a desire to escape. There is a psychiatric diagnosis called Panic Attack Disorder, where the person suffers from repeated panic attacks that begin to limit their life.

Another, more common cause of panic attacks can basically be thought of as a misfire in the central nervous system. Something caused the fight or flight stress reaction to start in the nervous system, even though there was nothing there to be afraid of. These are thought to come from genetics, although there may be environmental factors involved as well, but overall it is an overreaction by the nervous system.

How to identify a panic attack.

The feeling of not being able to breathe, your heart pounding in your chest, and other symptoms described above are a standard description for a panic attack. A more comprehensive list of symptoms of a panic attack includes:

  • Intense fear or worry
  • Impending sense of death or doom
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Feeling out of control
  • Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
  • Chest pain
  • Sweating/having the chills
  • Dizziness
  • Numbness or tingling in extremities
  • Rapid, pounding heartbeat
  • Feeling lightheaded or fainting
  • Nausea

The good news.

If that sounds like an awful experience that’s because it is. There is good news, however, a panic attack is usually short lived. After a while it will be over with and you will go back to normal. The other thing that is important to know about panic attacks is that they are treatable.

Therapy is the best place to start. Talk to a counselor. The education they provide can be very helpful. If need be panic attacks can be treated with medication as well. With one or more of these methods, you can limit, cut down, or even eliminate panic attacks from your life altogether. Anxiety attacks may feel like an intense and overwhelming episode. Still, there is help available through mental health professionals such as, psychiatrists, therapists, and online counselors.  Anxiety attacks do not have to control how you live and enjoy your life.

If you have been experiencing panic attacks please start a FREE trial of online counseling and get help today.

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Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this post and any associated articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect opinions or policies of eTherapyPro. These posts and articles are shared for your enjoyment and consideration. Read them or not at your sole discretion and liability. They are not intended to replace counseling services rendered by licensed professionals. Consult with your counselor before implementing any content from these articles into your life.

Panic Disorder – How to Tell, What to Do!

Panic Disorder

Panic disorder is an anxiety disorder where the person suffers from frequent, sudden, panic attacks. These may last for several minutes, some may be longer, and can happen anywhere. While the feelings they bring on can be extreme, they are not medically harmful in and of themselves. The key is understanding that it is a panic attack and what to do when one is happening.

First, panic attacks and panic disorder itself are sudden, and severe anxiety attacks. Panic attack symptoms include:

  • Intense fear or worry
  • Impending sense of death or doom
  • Feeling overwhelmed
  • Feeling out of control
  • Shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
  • Chest pain
  • Sweating/having the chills
  • Dizziness
  • Numbness or tingling in extremities
  • Rapid, pounding heartbeat
  • Feeling lightheaded or fainting
  • Nausea

To meet the criteria for a diagnosis of panic disorder, the individual must experience repeated panic attacks over a short period of time. It is possible to have a single panic attack, and then never have another one, or to have them infrequently.

What causes panic attacks? Panic attacks occur when the level of stress or anxiety in an individual’s life becomes very intense and overwhelming.  The typical coping mechanisms for stress become overwhelming and stop functioning normally. Each person responds to high levels of stress and anxiety differently, and what one person is able to manage, may completely overwhelm another.  This is not a judgement of strength, or character, but simply a medical fact.

There is strong evidence for a genetic basis for a predisposition to anxiety disorders.  If you have close family members with anxiety, you may be more prone to develop an anxiety disorder.

Living with a high level of stress for an extended period of time may also lead to developing panic disorder.  If this is you, seek help now, learn ways to productively manage your stress before it becomes a debilitating panic disorder.  Talking to a mental health professional, and learning coping methods can turn your life around, and back towards happiness.

How can someone deal with anxiety and panic disorder? It is possible to learn how to cope with, and overcome, panic disorder. The first thing needed is education. People need to know this is a medical condition where their nervous system is misfiring, and they are not in any medical danger. Another way to manage this condition is with medication; anti-anxiety medication helps lessen anxiety symptoms and lowers chances for future attacks. Lastly, talk therapy can be used to help understand what is going on, what triggers there may be, and ways to calm once the panic attack is starting. Simple breathing exercises, mindfulness techniques, and reassuring self-talk is very helpful in overcoming panic attack, or anxiety attack, symptoms.

Panic disorder is treatable with a high success rate.  There are a variety of methods and approaches available.  The important thing is to act sooner, rather than later. If you, or a loved one, are experiencing symptoms of anxiety, or panic disorder, reach out to a mental health professional.

Talk to an Expert about Panic Disorder Today! Start a trial of online counseling.

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Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this post and any associated articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect opinions or policies of eTherapyPro. These posts and articles are shared for your enjoyment and consideration. Read them or not at your sole discretion and liability. They are not intended to replace counseling services rendered by licensed professionals. Consult with your counselor before implementing any content from these articles into your life.