Panic Attacks

Any time you feel out of control of a situation in your life, your body reacts. A big meeting at work, financial troubles, or a near miss on the highway with another car might cause you to feel anxious or scared. This is a normal reaction to stress, and usually it helps you to focus and work through the situation. The jittery, breathless feeling you get in these situations is your body’s way of saying you need to pay attention.

Panic attacks can be the source of anxiety themselves. When people suffer from panic attacks, they experience extreme symptoms of anxiety. Some panic attacks are triggered by real stress, but some panic attacks may occur for no reason. Instead of helping to focus your attention, panic attacks may accomplish the opposite.

Where normal anxiety will help you focus your attention to the problem at hand, panic attacks can be alarming, and distract you from your current situation. If you’ve never experienced panic attacks before, you may be scared you are suffering from a heart attack, or you may think another medical problem is the cause of what you are feeling. The symptoms of panic attacks mimic many other medical symptoms, so speaking to a doctor is important to ruling out other possible causes of symptoms.

Physically, panic attacks can cause racing heart and feelings of breathlessness. Chest pain and sweating may make you feel like you are having a heart attack. Nausea, trembling, stomach cramps, and even sweats or chills may be alarming, and add to the emotional symptoms of panic attacks.

The emotional symptoms of panic attacks include a sense of overwhelming doom, fear of danger or death, and alarm at the physical symptoms you are feeling. Panic attacks can happen anywhere, at any time, so if you experience panic attacks often, you may feel the urge to avoid situations that trigger panic attacks.

Panic attacks are physically harmless, but often scary. If you experience panic attacks on a regular basis, you may be diagnosed with panic disorder. Although panic attacks may make you feel out of control, they are easily treated. Talking with your doctor about the symptoms of panic attacks will let you rule out other medical conditions, and find a treatment plan that works for you.

Panic attacks can be alarming and embarrassing. The normal feelings of anxiety everyone experiences are amplified and difficult to control when you experience panic attacks. Taking the first steps by talking to the doctor could help you resolve your fear of panic attacks.