subject: Most Common Signs And Symptoms Of Panic Attacks [print this page] Panic is a sudden rush of overwhelming anxiety and fear. Your heart jumps out of your chest and it becomes difficult to breathe. You feel dizzy and severe discomfort in the abdomen. You can even start to think that you are going crazy.
If left unattended, the panic attacks, can lead to panic disorders and other problems. They may even make you give up your normal activities. But panic is treatable and the sooner you seek helps the better. You will be able to reduce or eliminate the symptoms of panic attacks and run the normal life.
Signs and symptoms of panic attacks
Panic attacks often occur when you are away from home, but they can occur anywhere and at any time. This can occur, for example, when you are shopping in a store, walk down the street, drive your car or sitting at home on the couch.
Signs and symptoms of panic are developing rapidly, and usually reach their peak within 10 minutes. Most panic attacks completed within 20 to 30 minutes, panic attacks rarely last more than an hour.
Panic attack includes a combination of the following symptoms:
Choking or shortness of breath;
Palpitation;
Pain or discomfort in the chest;
Tremor or shaking;
The feeling that you choke;
A sense of detachment from reality;
Increased perspiration;
Nausea or upset stomach;
Dizziness or weakness;
Numbness or tingling in different parts of the body;
Cold or hot flushes;
Fear of dying, fear of losing control, fear of going mad;
What it is: a heart attack or panic attack?
Most of the signs of panic are natural, and in many cases, these symptoms are so severe that people think that they are dealing with a heart attack. Therefore, many suffering from panic attacks people again and again, call an ambulance or written to the doctor a cardiologist, in the hope that they will register on the treatment of cardiovascular disease, which they believe threatens their lives.
While it is important to exclude possible medical causes of symptoms such as chest pain, palpitations or shortness of breath, panic is often overlooked when looking for the cause of these symptoms of panic attacks.
Signs and symptoms of panic disorder
Many people experience panic attacks without any further episodes or complications. You have no special reason for excitement, if you have had one or two panic attacks. However, some people who have experienced a panic attack, panic disorder develop. Panic disorder is characterized by repeated panic attacks, combined with significant changes in behavior or constant anxiety and fear of recurrence of panic attacks.
You may be suffering from panic disorder, if you have:
Frequent, unexpected panic attacks, which are not related to the specific situation.
The constant anxiety and fear of another panic attack.
You have changed your behavior because of the panic attacks, to avoid places where you have panic attacks have occurred.
Although panic attacks may last only a few minutes, the impact of this experience may leave a lasting mark. If you have panic disorder, repeated panic attacks affect your emotional state. Memoirs of a strong horror and fear that you felt during a panic attack, could have a negative impact on your confidence and cause serious disturbances in your everyday life.
This eventually leads to the following symptoms of panic disorder:
Anxious wait for a panic attack: instead of feeling calm and relaxed in between panic attacks you experience restlessness and anxiety. This anxiety arises from the fear and apprehension the next panic attack. This "fear of fear" appears in most cases, and it seriously violates the vitality and emotional state.
Phobic avoidance: You begin to avoid certain situations or conditions. This avoidance may be based on the belief that those situations that you avoid have caused your previous panic attacks. Or, you can avoid situations and places in which assistance will be available in case of panic attack. An extreme case of phobic avoidance - is agoraphobia.
