subject: What Are Common Anxiety Attack Symptoms? [print this page] For starters, before I detail ordinary panic attack symptoms, I'd like to take a second to say that a "symptom" is anything that medical professionals observe to distinguish certain conditions and diseases. A good number of panic disorders are not medical diseases. They're behavioral problems. That's to say that there is most likely absolutely nothing physically wrong with you that is giving you anxiety attacks, but rather you experience panic and anxiety attacks because you are responding to anxious thought patterns and "what if" thoughts.
When you experience panic when there's not a thing to rationally be fearfulof, you're experiencing an inappropriate level of stress and anxiety. This is probably the effect of worrying about factors which are out of your control, or even a limitless series of "what if" thoughts that simply aggravate you and elevate your stress and anxiety more.
Since every human being is different, each person will go through unique panic attack signs or symptoms. We each act in response to panic- and terror-inducing conditions differently, but here are some frequent ones that people often experience.
* Rushing heart or rapid heartbeat
* Profuse perspiration
* Physical shaking or shuddering
* Feeling as if you're going to choke
* Feeling short of air
* Upper body pains (often leading many to think they are going into cardiac arrest)
* Nausea or a sinking feeling in the stomach
* Disorientation or faintness
* Light-headed sensations
* Derealization (feeling as if you are inside a dream or like everything is not real)
* Depersonalization (outside of yourself or that you do not exist)
* Fears that you just might go crazy
* A numb feeling on your face, hands, or your feet (known as "tetany," that may be due to strenuous deep breathing)
* Freezing or hot sensations
* Complexion looking pale or losing coloration
* Blushing
* Acute urges to run to the bathroom
* Worrisome or scary thoughts
* Muscle cramping in the upper back or neck
Additionally, following a panic or anxiety attack, quite a few people will suffer from a phobia of going through a second anxiety attack. This typically results in these folks steering clear of certain circumstances or spots that they have come to connect with their first panic attack. This "low-volume" of regular panic that comes after a anxiety attack is labeled as generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
It's also key that you be aware that, no matter how terrifying your panic and anxiety attack symptoms can be (and they might be pretty frightening sometimes), you are not in any true danger. Nobody has actually died from a panic attack. So find comfort with the idea that what you are experiencing will not last and that it doesnt leave you with any damage to the body or mind.
Once more, these are just a number of the frequent anxiety attack symptoms you may experience. You might feel all of these, or simply a few. Should you experience lots of symptoms, it doesn't necessarily mean that your condition is worse than if you have just experienced limited number of them. And this is by no means an exhaustive list. It's possible to go through a panic or anxiety attack and not experience any of the above symptoms at all.
