Panic Attacks: Symptoms and Facts About Panic Disorder

Panic attacks are a common symptom of anxiety and phobias. Anxiety is a common psychological illness that rarely appears as emotional or psychological difficulties or symptoms, but instead disguises itself in physical form. The most common complaints are physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, and irregular heartbeats. These disorders account for at least 20% of patients in general health clinics. Their visits are frequent, and they take many unnecessary medications, such as painkillers and vitamins.

What is a panic attack?

A panic attack is a brief period of overwhelming fear or anxiety whose intensity exceeds normal anxiety. During panic attacks, people often fear that they are having a heart attack, losing their minds, or dying. A panic attack can include several physical symptoms, such as difficulty breathing, a pounding heartbeat, and sweating.

Common experiences during a panic attack:

Sudden fear without an apparent cause is the feeling that dominates during a panic attack. This feeling may be accompanied by some of the following symptoms:

• Feeling afraid, weak, or nauseated
• Fear of losing control
• A pounding heartbeat
• Tingling or numbness
• Sweating
• Trembling and shaking
• Chest pain
• Nausea
• Difficulty breathing
• Fear of “going crazy”
• Feeling detached from reality
• A sense of terror, death, or impending death
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Nausea

Note: A panic attack does not need to include all the symptoms listed above.

Description of a typical panic attack:

• It begins suddenly, without any prior warning.
• It is intense and accompanied by symptoms such as severe palpitations—the feeling that the heart is beating rapidly—difficulty breathing, and such profound terror that the person becomes increasingly afraid of dying, collapsing, or losing their mind.
• It lasts from several minutes to half an hour.
• It disappears as quickly as it began.

Facts about panic attacks and their causes:

• Panic attacks seem extremely frightening and distressing, but they do not actually cause physical harm.
• The most common interpretations of panic attacks—such as having a heart attack or fainting—are not realistic at all.
• Panic attacks are usually brief but intense. Panic symptoms generally peak within 10 minutes and end within 30 minutes. Some lingering symptoms, however, may continue for more than an hour.
• Panic attacks can occur spontaneously, suddenly, and without an obvious cause, or they can be closely associated with a particular trigger, such as driving, crowded places, high places, or simply leaving home.
• Panic disorder occurs when a person experiences repeated anxiety or fear about future panic attacks, or changes their behavior to avoid attacks—for example, by avoiding a specific situation such as driving, crowded places, high places, or leaving home.
• Avoiding situations that you think might cause a panic attack, or places where one might occur, makes the problem worse.
• It is very important to understand that this disorder results from stress, and that the physical symptoms experienced by the person arise from this panic rather than from any serious physical illness, as the person may believe.
• Panic attacks are very common:Many people experience one or two panic attacks during their lives. Sometimes, however, panic attacks become recurrent and disabling. When these attacks occur more frequently—for example, once or twice a week—the condition is called panic disorder.
• The close connection between the body and mind can be explained as follows:When we are stressed or anxious, that stress or tension has negative effects on our bodies because the body and mind are connected. When we are under pressure, therefore, the body displays the effects of that tension, and we experience symptoms such as sleep problems, fatigue, palpitations, aches and pains, and poor concentration and attention.
• Anxiety reinforces itself and leads to panicSome symptoms, particularly lack of sleep, fatigue, and physical symptoms, make it extremely difficult to manage daily activities and work. We also feel tense, stressed, and sad, which often places strain on the body and leaves it exhausted. This is why we feel pain and worry.
• You should trust that none of these symptoms will lead to serious or life-threatening effects:When a doctor diagnoses you as having panic attacks, the symptoms you experience, such as dizziness, a rapid heartbeat, and fear, are caused by anxiety attacks. These are common problems and are not signs of a serious illness. In fact, they occur because you are stressed or anxious about something, which makes you breathe faster than usual. Breathing faster than normal causes changes in your body that make your heart beat rapidly and make you fear that something terrible is about to happen. There are ways to stop panic by regulating your breathing.
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Assessing a panic attack:

• What were you thinking about before your panic attack occurred?
• How did you feel before your panic attack occurred?
• What were you doing before your panic attack occurred?
• Identify the symptoms you experience during panic attacks.
• A pounding heartbeat or difficulty breathing
• A sense of impending death
• Feeling dizzy
• Fainting
• Feeling detached from reality or from yourself
• Fear of “going crazy”
• Chest pain
• Nausea
• A choking sensation
• Chills, numbness, or tingling
• Trembling
• Are you worried about having another panic attack?
• How would you rate the distress caused by your panic attacks on a scale from 0 to 10?
• Have you changed your behavior because of previous panic attacks?

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