These Are The More Common Panic Attack Symptoms

There are four major panic attack symptoms that have been identified by the American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV. These four main panic attack symptoms cause extreme discomfort and/or fear and they include palpitation and an accelerated heart rate, sweating, trembling and some amount of shaking and also feeling breathless. In addition, other common panic attack symptoms include feeling as if you are being choked and experiencing discomfort or pain in the chest region and also feeling nauseous or having discomforting feelings in the abdomen.

Feeling Unreal?

Some other common panic attack symptoms include feeling very unsteady, dizzy, and lightheaded and not feeling real and instead feeling detached from yourself. In addition, you can fear that you are losing control over yourself and you may also feel as if you are about to die and in addition you could experience tingling sensations or even numbness. And, you might also experience hot flashes or even chills.

It is of course not usual for all these panic attack symptoms to be present at the same time in a panic attack situation though some will be present and they can be so severe as to disable the patient who might even lose their ability to express to others what they are enduring. It is also quite usual for these panic attack symptoms to make a person shake, hyperventilate and appear to be extremely terrified.

As a matter of fact, some recent studies on panic attack symptoms among men as well as women seem to suggest that gender plays an important role in which kind of symptoms a person experiences during a panic attack. Women, for example, tend to experience predominantly respiratory symptoms that do not affect men quite as much.

It is also recommended that as soon as you notice one or more common panic attack symptoms you should not hesitate in immediately placing a call to your doctor or you should dial 911. This step helps ensure that you are able to receive suitable and timely treatment that can, after first addressing the root cause of your panic attack symptoms, ensure that suitable treatment can be given in order to help alleviate the symptoms before they become worse.

People that experience severe panic attack symptoms may panic because of the fact that such symptoms are far worse than is the case with regular panic attacks and it does in fact give rise to further anxiety and fears. Though you will certainly lose control you should not panic and instead you should be alert and ready to get some professional help.

A Brief Look At What A Panic Attack Is

There is no other disease that can be quite as frightening as a panic attack though the good part about such attacks is that they will not cause physical harm to the patient. These attacks might occur randomly or they can occur soon after a patient is exposed to certain triggering events and it is also common for a panic attack to peak very rapidly as well as almost instantly and it will also go away suddenly – sometimes with help and other times without needing medical help.

About To Die

It is common for a person experiencing a panic attack to believe that they are about to die or that they are suffocating or even experiencing a heart attack. Most patients will also say that they are in a state that is making them go crazy and they then try their best to get out of whatever situation they find them in. It is also sometimes common for a person in the middle of a panic attack to start breathing very fast and complain that their hearts are jumping all over the place. Such feelings can last for an hour after which these symptoms will start to fade away.

It is estimated that approximately five percent of the US population is prone to suffering from panic attacks at least once during their lifetimes. For those people that experience repeated panic attacks it may be necessary for them to get their condition evaluated medically because it is quite possible that the panic attack is symptomatic of another and more serious illness such as panic disorder and depression or other kinds of illnesses that are related to anxiety.

There are also various reasons behind why people suffer from panic attacks and one of these reasons is that the condition may have been inherited though it can just as easily be because of a learned response and in fact, under certain circumstances even an otherwise healthy person can experience a panic attack. Panic disorders too are believed to be a reason for panic attack that too is a reason that many experts believe can be inherited.

According to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV or DSM IV a panic attack is something that is characterized by four distinct panic attack symptoms that can occur abruptly as well as which can peak in a matter of just ten minutes. These symptoms include palpitating heart, sweating, trembling as well as shaking and feeling breathlessness.