A panic attack is a sudden bouts of extreme fear even though the environment is safe. During a panic attack, you may be suddenly out of breath and have a racing heart like you just ran a race. You may also sweat profusely or even feel pain all the while having an intense fear you cannot describe to others. You just feel scared for appears like no reason. Some people wonder if they are having a heart attack which adds to the fear of the situation, while others relive traumatic events from their past.
A panic attack brings on the fastest and most complex changes known in the human body. It is experienced as overwhelming, uncontrollable dread, as if one is terribly ill, about to die or lose one's mind. It drastically changes the the functioning of major glands, heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, eyes, and the largest muscle groups. Even violent poisons or traumatic injuries have less effect. A cascade of stimulants and hormones - adrenaline, epinephrine, glycogen, cortical, norepinephrine, among others - flood all the cells of the body via the bloodstream. The impulse is to run, get out, or hide.
The immediate cause is believing one is trapped and helpless. While panic can happen as a consequence of crime or disaster, it doesn't matter whether the threat is real. Often, panic happens after several weeks or months of stress.
People most often affected by panic attacks are those who are perfectionist, socially avoidant, or those who were abused as children. Genetics may also play a small part.
What makes panic attacks dangerous is that they are often misdiagnosed. Panic masquerades as a variety of medical disorders including hypoglycemia, complex partial seizures, drug effects, heart arrhythmia and hyperventilation syndrome. Panic partly mimics others: angina, asthma, irritable bowel, colitis, vertigo, mitral valve prolapse, post concussion syndrome, hypertension, postural hypotension, and hiatal hernia.
It is important to understand that nearly everyone with panic attacks believes they have a serious physical illness. Many people go from doctor to doctor for several years as symptoms shift. Yet panic is easily diagnosed by professionals experienced in panic attacks.
The symptoms of a panic attack are:
1. Rapid heart beat, pounding heart or palpitations
2. Sweating
3. Shaking visibly or inside
4. Choking sensations or lump in throat
5. Smothering or shortness of breath sensations
6. Chest pain or discomfort
7. Nausea, bloating, indigestion or abdominal discomfort
8. Dizziness or unsteadiness
9. Feeling light-headed
10. Feeling unreal or dreamy
11. Feeling outside yourself or like you don't exist
12. Fear of losing control or going crazy
13. Numbness or tingling sensations in face, extremities or body
14. Chills or hot flushes
15. Skin losing colour
16. Blushing or skin blotches
17. Urgently needing to urinate or defecate
Panic attacks themselves will not harm you. Many fear the panic attack will end up as a heart attack, but the worst that could happen is that you will faint. After a panic attack, it is not uncommon to feel completely exhausted.
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