You can have several attacks and many harrowing experiences before somebody diagnoses that the spells that are torturing you time and again, are due to panic attacks. Panic attacks are that hard to diagnose. We have all felt panic some time or the other in our life time at least ones. Feeling panicky and having panic attacks are two entirely different experiences. Most of the time panic attacks are so severe that they leave the patient psychologically maimed. The good news is that the years of research has led to improved anxiety medication that has lesser side effects and can successfully treat panic attacks with some help from psychotherapy. Incidentally, panic attacks fall under the bigger umbrella of anxiety disorder and are also referred as anxiety attack.Panic disorder is a psychological condition, which causes extreme discomfort due to wrong perception of the situation by the defense mechanism of our body. It falls under wider umbrella of anxiety disorder that also includes other psychological ailments such as generalized anxiety disorder, phobia etc. It is often referred as panic attacks or anxiety attacks. Panic attacks are very different from the extreme panic that we have all experienced in our lifetime at least once. They are so very severe that such a person finds it hard to cope up with life and often becomes emotionally crippled and socially unfit. Moreover, it is very hard to diagnose because its symptoms are very similar to host of other ailment. You need anxiety medication along with psychotherapy to keep it under control.

In general, panic is body’s reaction to threat. When we feel threatened, the defense mechanism in our body triggers the ‘fight or flight’ syndrome. This prepares are body either to fight or for flight. There is a rush of adrenaline and blood rushes to muscles. As a result, we feel physical discomfort ranging from shortness of breathe and chest pain to feeling of nausea, shaking and trembling. However, when there is no real threat, but the body prepares itself for flight or fight syndrome due to some wrong perception, we call it panic attack. Several panic attacks, coupled with a constant fear of another impending panic attack is diagnosed as panic disorder. If you or any of your family members are suffering from panic disorder, you should learn as much as you can about it to provide anxiety help in time.As we have said, the malfunctioning of defense mechanism of our body leads to panic attacks. Under ordinary circumstances, the defense mechanism prepares the body to fight or to fly, as it perceives threats. This is known as ‘fight or flight’ syndrome. The body secretes adrenaline and the heart starts to pump faster to rush blood to the muscles to prepare the body to face the threat. It is all right when there is some actual threat. When there is none and the body still experiences the same discomforts due to the wrong perception much too often we call it panic disorder. Such people need help from us and we can provide the anxiety help only when we can diagnose it as such.

Panic attacks have been proven to appear surprisingly similar to a heart attack. To the untrained eye, panic attacks can seem like heart attacks or chest pains are even epilepsy. While to you, it may seem like there are no differences between panic attacks and heart attacks, any doctor will assure you that the two can be greatly distinguished. When it comes to panic attacks, there are several symptoms that are marked with a few common qualities or points to look out for. These very obvious symptoms include quickness of breathing, increased heart rate, increased body temperature and an overwhelming feeling of dread or fear (panic). Apart from the above mentioned, panic sufferers have also recorded symptoms have involve tightness in their chest, which usually leads them to believe they are having a heart attack. Your doctor will be able to distinguish and tell you that this is just another general panic attack symptom; a real heart attack has key symptoms that you are unlikely to ignore, as it is very noticeable.

When someone has a panic attack, they will also feel tingling sensations in one or both arms and/or the tips of the fingers, profuse sweating, minor delusions, unfounded fear towards random objects or events, lightheadedness, dizziness, nausea. These symptoms only occur on some panic sufferers and are quite less common symptoms related to panic attacks as these symptoms vary from person to person. Most chronic panic sufferers tend to have a unique set of symptoms that mark their panic attacks.

Apart from experiencing any of the combination of symptoms explained above, there are also a few traits that are very recognizable to the untrained eye. For one, panic attacks are very limited in time. The body can only maintain this reaction for, at most, 15 minutes. With the symptoms explained above, a person who experiences both is advised to remember that the feelings will not last very long. After an attack, the feeling of anxiety often follows thereafter. This is also a common symptom as those who have experienced a panic attack tend to worry about attacks that will follow. With proper help with anxiety with your medical physician, you will be able to avoid or lessen these symptoms in order for you to lead a more normal life.

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