When an individual suffers from a panic attack, they typically feel extreme anxiety about something.  The onset and the symptoms of panic attacks are often very sudden and immense.  Some panic attack sufferers instantly believe they are having a heart attack or that the physical sensations they are experiencing will lead to a heart attack or that they are going to die. Whilst it is very unusual for a person to actually die from a panic attack, the symptoms are intense and feel very real.

Appearing suddenly and without any real cause, the symptoms of panic attacks may be felt in the person’s body as it reacts to an uncontrollable fear including:

• a pounding or racing heart,
• chest pains,
• difficulty with their breathing,
• stomach upset or nausea,
• dizziness,
• lightheadedness,
• tingling or numbness in the hands,
• hot flushes or chills.

Panic attack symptoms may also be felt in the person’s mind by experiencing a feeling of terror, a dreamlike sensation, doing something embarrassing, the need to run away or escape, or the fear of losing control or even the fear of dying.

One of the most common symptoms of a panic disorder is the fear of having another panic attack. Most individuals that have had one panic attack are often likely to have others.  The fear of having another attack can cause the individual to avoid places or situations where the previous attack had occurred or where they believe another attack may occur.  They may go on to develop a phobia about these situations or places.  Whilst the term panic attack and anxiety attack are often used interchangeably, panic attacks differ from other types of anxiety in that they typically happen suddenly and so unexpectedly.  They may come on without prior warning or provocation and are more often than not disabling.  The panic attack itself can sometimes be a symptom of an anxiety disorder.  Once a person gets into a pattern of anxiety and avoidance, they are said to have a panic disorder.  A Panic disorder can become serious and have an impact on a person’s daily life unless the individual receives effective treatment.  Around 3 million, almost 2% of the adult American population suffer from panic attacks at some point in their lives, with the peak age at which a person may first experience a panic attack being between the ages of 15 and 19.

A panic attack will normally last for a few minutes to several minutes and can often be one of the most distressing situations that a person can experience.  Since their symptoms can mimic closely those of a heart attack, an individual typically fears the attack itself by believing that what they are experiencing will lead to death.  Panic attacks can even come on whilst a person is fast asleep.  Known as nocturnal panic attacks, they tend to occur far less often than panic attacks that happen during the day.

Between 40%-70% of those people who suffer from daytime panic attacks are also likely to suffer from nocturnal panic attacks.  These attacks typically cause a sufferer to wake suddenly from deep sleep in a state of sudden panic or anxiety, though with no apparent cause and will have all the other symptoms of a panic attack.  Even though night time panic attacks seldom last more than 10 minutes, it’s the time that it takes a person to fully relax after such an experience, which can be much longer.

Although its usual that individuals suffer in different ways when it comes to panic attacks, the symptoms for all individuals almost always fall into the same state of mind; that of an uncontrollable and involuntary fear.

Those suffering from panic attacks will be intimately familiar with the symptoms such as shortness of breath, pounding heart, dizziness, and stomach issues that are associated with this problem.  However it’s likely that an outsider may not understand that, panic attacks are a very private thing.  The individual who is suffering from them is usually concerned or even intensely worried about an irrational fear.  Deep down inside they most likely know it is irrational but, this does not prevent them in fearing it.  They normally feel an element of shame or embarrassment about how far their fear has developed and how much it has affected their life.  The unfortunate truth is that because of this, a large percentage of sufferers never seek panic attack help.  Those who manage to seek help often find it in a variety of ways.

Most doctors and specialists have agreed that the best kind of panic disorder or panic attack help is provided through a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapies. On most occasions a person can find the help they need simply by becoming informed and gaining an understanding of what panic attacks are or what a panic disorder is.  This cognitive restructuring helps to change the way that person is thinking;

• they are not going crazy.
• they are not having a heart attack.
• and they are not going to die from a panic attack.

Cognitive therapies help sufferers to replace their negative thoughts with more positive and realistic thoughts. By changing the associations they have attached to the very things that bring on the attacks helps remove or diminish the root cause. For example someone who fears death and gets bodily feelings that they attach to the thought that something is wrong with them, can bring on a panic attack. By changing these neurological associations the sufferer eventually is able to recognize these bodily feelings or sensations as not being life threatening. What you focus on becomes real to you. It has been shown that through a constant negative thought process a panic attack sufferer who is worried about specific health problems for example can actually bring on the physical sensations through a constant focus on them and the vicious circle continues.

Conversely behavioral therapies focus on exposure to the actual physical sensations that someone actually experiences when they are having a panic attack.  The majority of people are not actually afraid of the experience or object, they are more afraid of the attack itself.  For example they may not be afraid of the people in a social setting, but they are afraid of having a panic attack in a social environment.  These behavioral therapies deal with exposing a panic attack sufferer to the symptoms of the attack whilst in a controlled environment and then allowing the person to see that symptoms such as an increased heart rate or hot flushes do not always develop into a full blown panic attack.

Behavioral therapies also involve the sufferer being allowed to go through small manageable steps of the situation or action they are afraid of.  Once again, using our social setting example, these particular practices involve for instance, just getting in the car to go to an event or party.  This then allows the sufferer to just deal with the emotions and feelings of just being in the car in isolation.  Soon enough they learn to not focus on the situation that awaits them or the consequences of their fear.  This is an important achievement as a lot of what a panic disorder is about, is to do with anticipating an attack before it happens, so by dong this they quickly learn that sitting in the car will not bring about a panic attack.  During these types of therapies each individual goes through similar steps in their own time and at their own pace.  One sufferer may need to arrive at a social setting, stay for ten to fifteen minutes and then leave a dozen times or more, before they start to show decent progress.  Whilst some other person may be able to force themselves through the situation with increased heart rate and palpitations and maybe even other symptoms before they learn that they were able to get through the event and that the next one will be easier.

Those suffering panic attacks may also find the help that they need from medication.  Medication is often used to control the symptoms of panic attacks. Medications can also limit the quantity of panic attacks as well as their intensity.  Also, they will reduce the level of fear and anxiety that is associated with onset of another attack.  Relaxation techniques may sometimes help a sufferer deal with an attack.  Certain relaxation techniques include positive visualization and diaphragmatic breathing exercises. Attending a support group or belonging to an online or offline community of other people who suffer from panic attacks can be extremely helpful.

Despite the fact that panic attacks are often a very private thing, it does affect a large number of people.  Because of the fact that there are so many people that are affected by panic attacks or panic disorders a sufferer is going to find it much easier to get the help and support they need.

Panic attacks can often prove to be debilitating and cause the person that is suffering from it immense stress and discomfort.  This is frequently seen in someone who has a panic disorder and fortunately it can be treated through the use of panic attack therapy and/or panic attack medication.  Therapy tends to focus on changing the individuals associations, thinking and behavioral patterns with the fear or cause of the anxiety.  Typically therapies that combine the mental/thinking with physical behavior patterns, relapses of panic attacks tend to occur far less frequently than when only one treatment is used.  Medication can further aid the rehabilitation process.

There are several different types of panic attack medication that can be used to treat or to control the symptoms of panic attacks.  Medications may also limit the number and intensity of panic attacks as well as, reduce the anxiety of having another attack.  There are a number of effective medications that will treat panic attacks like Prozac, Zoloft or Paxil which are all “selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors” (SSRI).  SSRI’s are antidepressants and often prescribed by doctors in the treatment of depression.  These particular types of medication affect chemicals in the body known as neurotransmitters that nerves within the brain use to send and receive messages to one another.  These chemicals (neurotransmitters) are released by one nerve and taken up by other nerves.  The same nerves that released the chemicals will “reuptake” the neurotransmitters that are not taken up by other nerves.

SSRI’s inhibit the reuptake of serotonin (a neurotransmitter), which in turn allows more serotonin to be made available for uptake by other nerves.  Before SSRI’s were readily available, medications from the group known as the tricyclic anti-depressants (TCAs) such as Anafranil, Norpramin or Tofranil were frequently prescribed to treat panic disorders.   Despite the fact that TCAs can be equally as effective in treating panic attacks, SSRI’s have been proven to be safer with less side effects in sufferers.  As such TCAs are now used less often as a result, although, if closely monitored and used in the right individual, these medications can still be a very effective treatment for panic disorders.  But as with most medications, there is still the risk of side effects which may vary from minor to severe or even life-threatening in some very extreme cases.  It is therefore important to work closely with your doctor to decide whether medication is an appropriate form or treatment and if so, which particular form of panic attack medication should be prescribed. Note: pregnant women should not be treated with these kinds of prescribed medicines due to the possible risks to the unborn child.

There are a number of medications from the benzodiazepine family of drugs that are also approved in certain countries to treat panic attacks or panic disorders.  These medications include Valium, Xanax, Klonopin or Ativan. These medicines are effective in reducing nervous tension and anxiety. They are sometimes prescribed by doctors to be taken as and when needed, for immediate relief to the symptoms whereas SSRI’s which have to be taken every day.

Those that take medication as indicated above for a panic disorder should start to see an improvement in the symptoms within a few weeks after starting medication. If there appears to be no improvement within 6 to 8 weeks, then the doctor may prescribe a higher dosage or an alternative medicine.  Most medicines that are used in the treatment of panic attacks need to be continued for around a year or even longer.  After this initial time period they may be reduced gradually over a period of several weeks.  On occasion after the medications have been reduced, an individual may experience panic attacks again.  In these cases the medication may have to be continued for a few more months.  Some sufferers may need to remain on medications for a long time in order to keep their symptoms under control.

A panic attack is often defined as a  sudden onset of intense anxiety and normally characterized by feelings of intense fear and apprehension. Although the causes of panic attacks are still not really understood, several things can play a role which can include a combination of biological and environmental factors.

Panic Attacks are more often than not accompanied by one of the following:

• heart palpitations,
• shortness of breath,
• sweating,
• trembling plus several other symptoms.

Doctors and experts alike have investigated genetics as being a possible cause for panic attacks in some people.  In the same way that other ailments or problems such as genetic heart disease can be  passed down by one or both parents, a panic disorder has also been proved to run in families.  It could be that a person is predisposed to having these attacks.  It has been shown that some panic attack sufferers have had a family member has had or has panic attacks or some other emotional problem such as depression.

There are other possible biological causes for panic attacks which could be associated with small abnormalities in the brain.  As such a panic disorder can be the result of specific changes in the way that areas of the brain function.  In recent studies it has been shown that panic attacks can often coexist with psychotic disorders like schizophrenia or post traumatic stress disorder.  It may even be possible that psychotic symptoms could lead to panic attacks.

Research suggests that a person may get psychotic episodes in advance of, or that these may even predict the onset of specific anxiety disorders as well, like for example post traumatic stress disorder.  It is also now well documented that the body’s natural “fight-or-flight” response to danger is involved in panic attacks. The body’s natural alarm and response system is a set of mental and physical mechanisms that allows a person to respond to a threat such as an intruder breaking into their home. These physiological mechanisms date back to the times when man had to fight and hunt for food and even though man has evolved over thousands of years, these basic instincts or mechanisms have not changed and are hard wired into our core make-up. Any car driver who has experienced the red and blue flashing lights from a police car in the rear view mirror have most likely felt the instantaneous fight or flight mechanism kick in, when adrenalin is pumped into the heart which causes the heart to beat faster and breathing increase rapidly.

Here is where the problem lies you see because, in the onset of a panic attack, these same physiological feelings are triggered unnecessarily when there is no danger.  Unfortunately scientists are still unsure why a panic attack occurs when there’s no obvious danger present. In normal circumstances this instantaneous and involuntary response prepares us to face our foe and fight or run away or hide up the nearest tree, hence the term “fight or flight” which as stated previously predates our most recent ancestors. The purpose behind adrenalin being pumped into the heart is to increase the blood flow around the body so that muscles can work at their optimum to help us either fight or flee. However adrenalin is not needed when a person is not in these situations and this is one of the main issues for individuals that suffer a panic attack. In a calm or resting state, adrenalin takes time to be absorbed in the body if it is not used up in the process of “fight or flight” and is the primary reason why it takes some time to become relaxed again following an attack.

It is thought however that major stress or stresses in our life in some cases may be a cause of panic attacks as well.  Stress may come in the form of a stressful event or a major life transition like the death or separation of a loved one. The trouble is that in the 21^st Century most of the western world is seeing a vast increase in the levels of stressed induced or related sickness, brought on by our work environment and social lives in the main. Some specialists have discovered that in cases when these stresses lower your natural resistance, the underlying physical sensitivities kick in and may trigger an attack.

An example of an environmental cause of a panic attack could be seen as an addiction.  The physiological and physiological effects of intoxication or with the withdrawal of drugs or alcohol due to alcohol or drug abuse could also possibly contribute to a panic disorder in an individual person as well.  Biological and environmental causes of a panic disorder have been thought to possibly work together.  Typically, panic attacks come out of the blue.  However, ultimately the panic attack sufferer might bring them on themselves, by responding to physical symptoms associated with an attack.  For example, if someone that suffers from a panic disorder experiences a racing heartbeat caused by an event or situation like taking a certain medication, then they might interpret this as a symptom of an attack.  In turn they may inadvertently bring on an attack because of an increase in their anxiety since a lot of the fear associated with an attack is fear of having another panic attack.  Since the exact cause of panic attacks and panic disorders are not fully understood, it is important to seek treatment through several different forms of therapy.

Although anxiety disorders in children are nowhere near as common as in adulthood, most children will at some point during their lifetime experience a typical fear or anxiety.  They may be nervous about taking an exam or moving to a new school.  In almost all cases, these fears do not become irrational and develop into a panic attack or worse, develop into a panic disorder.  However, some children that may go on to show signs of a panic disorder for other reasons.

No matter how much we want to protect the innocence of children and prevent anything from interfering with their development or lives, unfortunately it is not always possible.  Children can be affected by certain types of anxiety disorders that are more common in adults.  A generalized panic disorder or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), may be seen in children in a variety of ways.  They may become overly concerned or worry about everyday events like school or life in general.

They may

• have a tendency to be extremely hard on themselves and constantly strive for perfection.
• continually redo tasks in an effort to get them to come out perfectly.
• also seek constant approval and reassurance from others.

Another type of anxiety disorder that might be seen in children is obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is invasive or unwanted thoughts or obsessions that a person cannot seem to get out of their head.  A sufferer may also display strong urges to repeatedly carry out ritualistic behaviors or routines in an attempt to try to ease or mitigate their anxieties.  Even though 10 years old is the peak age at which a child may be medically diagnosed as suffering OCD, it has been known to affect children as young as two or three.  This particular anxiety disorder can be seen in children who:

• excessively wash their hands, or
• have the feeling that they will accidentally do something wrong,
• recheck or count items again and again to prevent unwelcome or unwanted thoughts, etc.

A panic disorder in children may be diagnosed in those who suffer from at least two unexpected panic attacks that are followed by at least one month of worry or anxiety over having another attack.  This is not typically seen in younger children but has been diagnosed in adolescents.

Children may also exhibit an anxiety disorder though certain phobias; irrational fears towards specific places, objects or situations.  Even though childhood fears like being afraid of animals, thunderstorms or the dark can go away on their own, if a fear is relentless in a child for at least six months and interferes with their day to day activities, the child is said to have a phobia.  The symptoms may include:

• suffering from a headache or stomach ache,
• a paddy or tantrum,
• becoming clingy,
• or freezing in place when confronted with the fear or scary episode.

Any child that is exposed to an extremely stressful experience such as, the sudden death of a parent, a natural disaster, an accident or a physical abuse, or a child who is witness to a traumatic event can suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, which in itself is another type of anxiety disorder.  In these situations children might display symptoms of:

• low appetite or simply not eating or sleeping
• emotional numbness,
• reliving the experience through nightmares
• fear that the event might happen again.

Even though these types of anxiety disorders might be found both in adults as well as in children, the emotional and physical signs can often be very different.  For instance, children do not have an understanding that their fears are irrational, equally they may not be able to express their feelings either.  Children therefore often display symptoms such as:

• crying,
• throwing tantrums or becoming extremely clingy.

Children who are suspected of suffering an anxiety disorder should be referred to their doctor.

There is an abundance of panic attack information available online these days. Panic attacks are often described as an irrational fear that brings about symptoms such as an increased heart rate, an increased breathing pattern, hot flushes; they feel as though they are going to feint, have chills or start to become sweaty.  There are number of other symptoms and whilst most are seen during a panic attack, the symptoms and the severity may vary for each individual.  Most panic attack information will tell you that panic attacks typically come on suddenly and without warning due to an irrational fear that an individual may have.  Even though the triggers for an individual can be very different from person to person, there are similarities in their fear of the panic attack itself.  Those who sufferer these attacks report that they feel like they are going to die, are having a heart attack or will have a heart attack due to the physical sensations they feel within their bodies at the time of the panic attack itself.  The first time a person suffers a panic attack they more often than not will not understand what is going on.  Typically the person is helped simply through gaining an understanding of exactly what a panic attack is, and the knowledge or comfort that many other people suffer from these too.  Once a person has had a panic attack, they become fearful of experiencing another attack. Without help or treatment if this fear continues it is likely to turn into a panic disorder, where the individual fears the panic attack itself and not the event, object or situation that brought the original one on in the first instance.

Getting help or assistance for panic attacks can be found in a variety of ways however most people who suffer from panic attacks fail to seek advice or treatment.  Therapy and/or medications combined with relaxation techniques may help individual sufferers to get rehabilitated.  Behavioral therapy allows a person to feel or experience some of the symptoms associated with a panic attack but helps that person to recognize that the symptom itself is nothing to be fearful of.  This element of behavioral therapy is called interoceptive exposure.  For example, the sufferer may be encouraged to bring on some of the physical sensations of a panic attack such as an increased heart rate.  With support the person then understands that even though they experience these feelings it does not always bring about a panic attack and they can deal with it.  Furthermore behavioral therapy includes real life exposure.  An individual may be introduced to the very things that they fear in order that they can get accustomed to them.

Relaxation techniques can be provided effectively in a several different ways.  The individual person has to first relax their shoulders when they feel a panic attack starting to come on.  If aware of the tension in the neck, the individual can then learn how to reduce it.  Finally by relaxing the remaining muscles in the body the goal is to reach total body relaxation.  A key step in relaxation techniques is to slow down the person’s breathing which results in reducing an elevated heart rate.

Panic attacks often bring on an increased heart rate and a resultant increased breathing pattern which in some extreme cases can lead to hyperventilation where the individual takes in too much oxygen.  By taking deep, slow and controlled breaths the person can slow down their breathing. Using diaphragmatic or circular breathing techniques using the diaphragm and not just the lungs can significantly help to reduce stress and anxiety at the same time as reducing the rate of breathing and ultimately ones heart rate. These techniques are often used during meditation or hypnosis to relax an individual.  A key point is that the person reminds themselves that they are not going crazy and they are not going to die.  It is those very fears that further exacerbate a panic attack.

Panic attacks can develop into a panic disorder caused by anxiety and anticipation.  There are numerous ways in which people exhibit their anxiety through a panic disorder.  For example, post traumatic stress disorder is quite often seen after a person has experienced a very traumatic event like the death of a close relative or loved one, or separation/divorce, physical abuse or an attack, an accident or being witness to a traumatic incident.

A doctor may also diagnose a person with having OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).  This particular form of anxiety disorder is predominantly associated with having unwanted thoughts or obsessions that a person cannot get out of their everyday thinking, which preys on their mind. Bedtime can often be a particularly bad time as there are no physical activities to otherwise occupy the mind and body.  The sufferer may then become obsessed with urges that move them to perform repeated ritualistic tasks, behaviors or routines in a bid to ease their anxiety.