What are Panic Attacks?
Panic attacks, also known as anxiety attacks, concentrated experiences of hugely-intense stress symptoms. If we think of anxious feelings over time as comparable to a state of sexual arousal, then a panic attack would be the orgasm of anxiety. It’s just a metaphor. There’s nothing sexual about panic attacks. The relaxation response of the nervous system is capped off in favor of a huge jolt of adrenaline.
Panic attacks can be so overwhelming as to be traumatic experiences in and of themselves. How do you explain to someone that you have post traumatic stress syndrome, but you didn’t see any visible danger around you?
Have you ever watched a horror movie where the potential victim is running through the thicket trying to escape? They never do, of course, because that’s what makes the movie. But, for that few minutes the victim’s body is operating in a hypersensitive mode as they run for their life. Imagine feeling like running for your life when there is no one chasing you? This is a glimpse into the emotional world of panic attacks.
Panic Attacks Have all the Feelings of Facing Extreme Danger
The body is an amazing machine. It responds to various stimuli almost without the use of our conscious mind. Stories are reported of people displaying super human strength when a family member is trapped under a car, or in a situation where death may be imminent if they don’t find a way out. This is called the “fight or flight” response.
Adrenaline gets pumped through the veins at a high rate of speed. The pupils dilate so that you can see more sharply. The heart races pumping blood to the extremities, which prepares you to run for your life.
A true “fight or flight” response is a feeling like no other. The body is preparing itself to react quickly to whatever the encroaching danger is. You may need to use your arms and legs to defend yourself (fight) or you may need to run (flight).
Panic Attacks: Oh, That Feeling!
Now, imagine feeling that way for no apparent, visible reason. It’s like your body is on high alert with no explanation, and no resulting “fight or flight” necessary. This is what happens to those who suffer from panic attacks. In a nutshell, it can be described as an overreaction to a particular situation or event, especially when no menace is present. The body begins to respond just like it does when you are in a real danger situation.
Panic attacks can come on suddenly, without warning. Many who experience one for the first time believe they are having a heart attack. This may be a logical conclusion given the symptoms. A person who is unfamiliar with the symptoms of anxiety attacks may believe, and with good reason, that they are in the throes of a heart attack, stroke, and certain death when they experience one.
A single panic attack may last ten minutes or even longer, but usually not more than 30 minutes. It all depends on the stimulating event and how quickly it passes. But, that short period of time can seem like forever when you aren’t sure what is happening to you. In the United States as many as 20 percent of adults will have one or more anxiety attacks in their lifetime. That’s around 60 million people who will experience this heightened state of physical alert when there is no real danger around them.
Knowledge is Power
Panic attacks can be disabling experiences especially when you don’t know what is happening in your body. The body goes into defense mode for what seems to be no apparent reason. Panic attacks are frightening. If you believe you are having a panic attack, but are not sure, take these steps:
- Don’t ignore it. Stop doing what you are doing. As soon as you are able, call for help to satisfy yourself that you are not having a heart attack. The most important thing your doctor will do is make sure you are not experiencing a heart attack or other physical ailment. With proper knowledge, and treatment, panic attacks can be dealt with successfully so you can rest assured that you will be alright.
- Make one appointment to see a psychologist for a 1-hour assessment to discover what kind of anxiety you are having. Just knowing this can give you a sense of control over panic attacks.
- While you are waiting for your appointment, learn the key facts about panic attacks, the criteria for an anxiety disorder, and about post traumatic stress syndrome. Taking an online class to understand these three things may decrease the agony of panic attacks or at least will empower you to get to the bottom of whatever is causing your distress.
What is Panic Disorder?
Panic attacks happen when, for some reason, your body goes into the “fight or flight” response to a perceived danger. These attacks come on without warning and can last several minutes or longer. The cause for such an attack may be unseen and unknown. When panic attacks occur on a regular basis, you may have what is known as panic disorder. But if someone has been having panic attacks for months or years without any treatment or understanding, this anxiety disorder may actually reflect an underlying post traumatic stress syndrome. I have to learn this the hard way. By the time I finally got rid of anxiety attacks, I had already been traumatized by them to the point that the effects of the panic attacks (post traumatic stress syndrome) became another kettle of fish to deal with. Once you have post traumatic stress syndrome, it becomes the gift that keeps on giving, until you get treatment.
Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome Can Generate Panic Disorder
Panic disorder is a result of recurrent panic attacks. In other words, panic attacks can create a snowball effect which can lead to panic disorder over time. The emotional fall-out of these internal traumas can create post traumatic stress syndrome where the symptoms of anxiety feed off of each other.
Since panic attacks can last for some time, even up to an hour, the growing fear while experiencing the attack is ingrained in the mind. Every time you think about what you experienced, it creates the irrational fear that you are doomed to have another one. This all-consuming thought can actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy as the fear of having a panic attack can actually cause more panic attacks. This where knowledge really is power, once I took a few weeks to really learn what panic attacks are, I felt empowered to deal with them.
Along with the fear of having another panic attack, many people believe they are going crazy when they experience anxiety attacks repeatedly. The symptoms of a panic attack are such that you think you are having everything from a heart attack to hallucinations. Time will prove your thinking is wrong, but the diagnosis of panic attack is so often misdiagnosed, your fear of being mentally impaired begins to make sense to you.
Symptoms of Panic Attacks and Panic Disorder
I finally figure out what the difference is between panic attacks and panic disorder. A panic attack is set of extreme symptoms of anxiety hitting you all at once. Panic disorder, is having frequent panic attacks over time. Therefore, one panic attack is not panic disorder. One flat tire on the road is a ‘tire attack,’ but 9 blow-outs in a month is ‘tire disorder.’ This also means that you could have one panic attack, but not have an anxiety disorder. How can this be? Well, I learned that an anxiety disorder, by definition is a pattern of behaviors or symptoms that continue over time. One panic attack that is never repeated is not an anxiety disorder. It’s a blip on the screen. Correction: a very disturbing blip.
The most common symptoms of an anxiety attack are:
- hyperventilation
- tightness or pain in the chest
- sweating
- fast heart beat
- shaking
- need to escape the situation
- chills
- numbness or tingling
- light-headedness
- fear of dying
- detachment from reality
- upset stomach
Don’t confuse these symptoms with normal butterflies in the pit of the tummy kind of situations. Your body actually believes that you are in peril for some reason. Over time, with no other outside influence, you begin to believe it, too.
Maybe you have seen people breathing in to paper bags for anxiety attacks on television shows. Let’s avoid that shall we? First of all, there is hardly ever a paper bag around when you need one. Secondly, breathing in all of that carbon dioxide can result in dizziness.
One of the reasons that anxiety attacks can be so frightening is that panic symptoms are often similar to the symptoms of many other conditions. And, in the midst of an attack, you will grasp for the most obvious conditions that you think are responsible. Your symptoms may mimic other illnesses and conditions like:
- heart problems
- irritable bowel syndrome
- angina
- stroke
Only a medical exam can rule these out to the satisfaction that you won’t consider them anymore. Fear of the unknown will increase the panic attacks, whereas knowledge of this condition will help to relieve your panic attacks and, eventually, your panic disorder. Again, knowledge is power.
Untreated Panic Attacks Can Cause Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
Panic attacks are a set of stress symptoms that can appear as part of a full-blown anxiety disorder such as post traumatic stress syndrome. But what many people don’t realize is that panic attacks untreated can become the actual CAUSE of post traumatic stress syndrome. Consider this: if someone told you they were chased by thieves in a dark alley and then beaten by a gang, you might understand that they later develop post traumatic stress syndrome. But a panic attack could involve the same degree of anxiety and fear…enough to be a traumatic experience that messes with your head — big time.
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