subject: Peeping Through the Symptoms of Panic Attack [print this page] Peeping Through the Symptoms of Panic Attack
If a person, for no reason at all, has suddenly felt the walls pushing towards him or her, the hush of open air curtailed from entering the lungs and the heart pounding out of the chest, he or she may be suffering from panic attack. These symptoms of panic attack can be very difficult to manage since the patient's perceptual field is greatly altered and his or her physiologic compensatory mechanisms are beginning to fail. Within 15 to 30 minutes, the patient experienced rapid, intense, escalating anxiety brought about by non-provoked or unconscious emergence of great emotional fear and physical restlessness. The overwhelming umbrella of symptoms includes hot flashes, paresthesia, nausea, abdominal distress, light-headedness, rapid beating of the heart, difficulty of breathing to the point of suffocation and the feeling of the need to run.
The onset of this panic attack peaks during late adolescence and mid 30s. When panic attacks occur unexpectedly every now and then and the patient develops constant worries or shows significant change of behavior, the attack now becomes a disorder. This is different from panic anxiety that arises from life threatening situations such as during impending falling debris, car accident or any other calamity. Usually, the symptoms of panic attack present without any apparent trigger that is the patient suddenly begins to act out differently.
The repercussions of panic attack are varied depending on the way the individual handles the situation. Some may immediately seek professional help or counseling. Still, others may develop avoidance behavior. The patient will refrain from going into places where the attacks happened. He or she may just choose to remain at home. This condition is called agoraphobia. Most of the time, this phobia serves as a caution or protection against the anticipatory fear that develops from within.
The symptoms of panic attack wherein all motivations rest in the mind are perfect examples of primary and secondary gain. Patients who suffer from panic in one way or another have an underlying fear, doubt or insecurities that are thrown away on the physical symptoms. Unconsciously, the symptoms are ways to express the anxiety within. No matter how difficult the experience may have been, these can somehow let the other people know that indeed, there is something wrong. Through the attacks, they can gain the attention which they secretly or expressively long for. Primary gain is the physical expression/expulsion of anxiety and the secondary gain is the attention received from others.
Panic attacks can even extend to the activities of daily living of the patient. For those who felt ridiculed, shamed or stigmatized for what happened, disturbances in sleep and eating habits may occur. The patient may even develop low self-esteem because of self-blaming. They may feel so out of control and very weak. As a result, instead of being able to gather themselves to perform their activities of daily living, they tend to be preoccupied with the worries of impending attacks. As such, people who experience these symptoms of panic attack must be given attention.
