panic attack Symptoms

Article by Nicole Brooks

You might be surprised to know that there are people out there that have experienced panic attack symptoms and are not even aware of it. panic attacks affect people in different ways so the symptoms for each individual might be very different. Because of this fact, these symptoms can also be mistaken for other types of conditions. An attack can trigger when we feel threatened in some way and this could be either physically, mentally or emotionally. It can occur quite suddenly and the onslaught of symptoms can be pretty full on that some people think they are even dying.

Some of the symptoms of panic attacks are:

Physically

- Difficulty breathing

- A pounding or erratic heart beat

- Chest and stomach pains

- Nausea

- Chills or hot flushes

- Dizziness

- Trembling or shaking

Mentally

- Dream like sensations

- A need to escape

- Feelings of terror

- Fear or losing control or doing something embarrassing

- Fear of dying

Does this sound familiar? The main symptom of panic attacks, which is not listed above, is actually the fear of having another panic attack. This is because it is statistically proven that people who have suffered from one panic attack are most likely to have another in the future. And as panic attacks aren’t the most pleasurable experiences, there is a lot of fear associated with them. So say for an example a panic attack sufferer has an attack near a public swimming pool it is more than likely that they are not going near any type of swimming pool in the foreseeable future. People who have experienced an attack will deliberately avoid similar situations, conditions and events, and could even develop a phobia.

So how long does an attack last for? An attack can last for several minutes but in some cases can go on for much longer. Panic attacks can occur at any time in any place, even while you are sleeping. About 40-70% of people who have attacks during the day will have them at night, though night time attacks do occur less frequently. What generally happens is a person might wake up quite suddenly with a feeling of extreme anxiety and stress and then trigger a bout of some of the other listed symptoms of panic attacks mentioned above.

Unless an individual seeks out treatment, the impact on ones life can be quite severe. Approximately 3 million Americans suffer from this condition during the course of their lives and the numbers are continually growing.

Panic Attack Symptoms

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