Panic Attack Symptom

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.

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