Panic Attacks 

Panic Attacks are often referred to as an Anxiety Attack Disorder and in America alone there are more than 19 million people who suffer from anxiety disorders such as general anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, post-traumatic stress and specific phobias.

Although these attacks are not experienced by every anxiety sufferer, there are some common symptoms. Panic Attacks, also called anxiety attacks, are caused by the body reaching a level of anxiety which causes us to experience a group of the most extreme symptoms of anxiety.

Panic attacks may occur after some really fearful, upsetting experience, or from something someone said to you which is a very common trigger. Panic attack sufferers often visit their physician to be told they have 'stress' or 'depression' and then receive prescriptions of anti depressants or sedatives which means the real complaint of the Panic Disorder goes unchecked for several years.

Panic Attacks partly mimic other complaints such as angina, asthma, irritable bowel, colitis, vertigo, mitral valve prolapse, post concussion syndrome, hypertension, postural hypertension, and hiatus hernia.

A person experiencing a panic attack will often feel as if he or she is about to die or pass out. The attacks usually come without warning, and although the fear is generally irrational, the perception of danger is very real.

Panic or Anxiety Attacks can occur just once, or can become regular if what is known as a panic disorder develops, this disorder generally onsets in people between the ages of 18 and 24. Some teenagers suffer from panic or anxiety, when out of the blue they feel really scared and don’t know why.

The particular situations that trigger panic or Anxiety may differ; maybe the bodily sensations are a little different. For some, it may be the infrequent attacks that only crop up in particular situations - like when needing to speak in front of others, while, for some, it can be so frequent and recurring that it inhibits them from leaving their home.

Panic Attacks can cause a disturbing group of symptoms which cause the sufferer to fear the next attack and UNFORTUNATELY it is this fear of having another attack that results in them having one, they may also present both physical and psychological symptoms, including but not exclusive to:

1 Disturbed thoughts
2 Feelings of impending doom
3 Shortness of breath
4 Chest pains
5 Stomach cramps or diarrhoea
6 Racing heart
7 Dizziness or faintness
8 Tingling in the extremities
9 Muscle pains
10 Sweating and many others.

People suffering panic attacks should also understand that the physical symptoms experienced with an attack are just extreme versions of normal bodily responses to danger.

With both Panic Attacks and Anxiety attacks being habituated thinking they can be overcome and people need not live with them anymore because it is now seen as being highly treatable. These disorders can be treated with a variety of available therapies which include medications, psychotherapy and stress management techniques.