How to Recognize Panic Attack Symptom
Is the first time the worst? It's quite possible that the first panic attack you have will also be the worst...
at least if you're able to understand what has happened to you and learn from the experience.
For many people, the greatest fear they experience in the course of a panic attack symptom is the belief that they are dying-your heart is pounding, you may be experiencing chest pains, it's becoming difficult to breathe and you feel like you might lose consciousness.
These are classic symptoms of a heart attack that have sent many a panic attack victim to the emergency room or their doctor's office.
Once a real cardiac incident or other serious physical emergency has been ruled out, with luck, the patient will receive a reassuring diagnosis...
and a start toward understanding and dealing with what has happened.
The primary thing a panic attack sufferer needs to learn-aside from the fact that he or she is not actually going to die from this-is how to recognize the symptoms of a panic attack.
The sooner you spot what is happening to you, the sooner you can react to prevent, minimize, cope and recover from the experience.
What are the first signs and symptoms of an on-coming panic attack? No doubt peoples' experiences differ, but generally the first thing victims become aware of and report is an abrupt sensation of fear or anxiety that is all out of proportion to its apparent cause or that has no cause at all that they can identify.
This sudden fear is not only the first symptom but also becomes a precipitating agent in the growth or development of the panic attack.
It's often described as a version of the primitive "flight or fight" mechanism that floods the body with adrenalin and other hormones at the first sign of some dangerous attack.
But while "flight or fight" serves an important purpose in enabling a person under attack to react and move faster and with more strength than they normally have, during a panic attack this flood of energy serves no positive purpose.
It's kind of a total system overload that starts a cascade of uncomfortable and frightening physical reactions, each one possibly contributing to the next.
An accelerated heart rate and quickened breathing often start immediately, which in extreme cases can feel like a heart attack.
Some people will start to hyperventilate or feel they are choking.
Other common physical sensations include sharp fluctuations in body temperature-from hot flashes to chills-accompanied by drenching sweats.
The digestive system can be shocked into a kind of "dumping" syndrome, with cramps and nausea leading to diarrhea.
Dizziness, the shakes, faintness, and a general feeling of unsteadiness commonly occur.
A strange tingling feeling or numbness in the hands and feet is frequently reported.
During an attack the victim may also develop a feeling of mental detachment or dissociation from the body, or like the world is out of focus.
And then it's over.
For most people, the whole attack will last about 10 minutes, 30 minutes at the worst.
But they are incredibly intense and debilitating minutes, that can leave you drained, exhausted, possibly deeply embarrassed, if the episode has happened in public, and terrified of a recurrence.
If you've never had one of these frightening attacks, perhaps this description will help prepare you if you ever do experience one.
Or maybe while reading this list of symptoms you realized that you have in fact been through at least one panic attack in your life.
Whatever your situation, however, knowing how to recognize the symptoms of a panic attack is step number one in learning how to treat and stop one.
at least if you're able to understand what has happened to you and learn from the experience.
For many people, the greatest fear they experience in the course of a panic attack symptom is the belief that they are dying-your heart is pounding, you may be experiencing chest pains, it's becoming difficult to breathe and you feel like you might lose consciousness.
These are classic symptoms of a heart attack that have sent many a panic attack victim to the emergency room or their doctor's office.
Once a real cardiac incident or other serious physical emergency has been ruled out, with luck, the patient will receive a reassuring diagnosis...
and a start toward understanding and dealing with what has happened.
The primary thing a panic attack sufferer needs to learn-aside from the fact that he or she is not actually going to die from this-is how to recognize the symptoms of a panic attack.
The sooner you spot what is happening to you, the sooner you can react to prevent, minimize, cope and recover from the experience.
What are the first signs and symptoms of an on-coming panic attack? No doubt peoples' experiences differ, but generally the first thing victims become aware of and report is an abrupt sensation of fear or anxiety that is all out of proportion to its apparent cause or that has no cause at all that they can identify.
This sudden fear is not only the first symptom but also becomes a precipitating agent in the growth or development of the panic attack.
It's often described as a version of the primitive "flight or fight" mechanism that floods the body with adrenalin and other hormones at the first sign of some dangerous attack.
But while "flight or fight" serves an important purpose in enabling a person under attack to react and move faster and with more strength than they normally have, during a panic attack this flood of energy serves no positive purpose.
It's kind of a total system overload that starts a cascade of uncomfortable and frightening physical reactions, each one possibly contributing to the next.
An accelerated heart rate and quickened breathing often start immediately, which in extreme cases can feel like a heart attack.
Some people will start to hyperventilate or feel they are choking.
Other common physical sensations include sharp fluctuations in body temperature-from hot flashes to chills-accompanied by drenching sweats.
The digestive system can be shocked into a kind of "dumping" syndrome, with cramps and nausea leading to diarrhea.
Dizziness, the shakes, faintness, and a general feeling of unsteadiness commonly occur.
A strange tingling feeling or numbness in the hands and feet is frequently reported.
During an attack the victim may also develop a feeling of mental detachment or dissociation from the body, or like the world is out of focus.
And then it's over.
For most people, the whole attack will last about 10 minutes, 30 minutes at the worst.
But they are incredibly intense and debilitating minutes, that can leave you drained, exhausted, possibly deeply embarrassed, if the episode has happened in public, and terrified of a recurrence.
If you've never had one of these frightening attacks, perhaps this description will help prepare you if you ever do experience one.
Or maybe while reading this list of symptoms you realized that you have in fact been through at least one panic attack in your life.
Whatever your situation, however, knowing how to recognize the symptoms of a panic attack is step number one in learning how to treat and stop one.
