The symptoms of a panic attack might vary from person to person, but there are a few common characteristics shared by most sufferers (including me). These include:

1. Excessive sweating
2. Trembling or shaking, especially in the extremities (hands, feet)
3. Excessive palpitation; increased heart rate
4. Shortness of breath
5. Pain in the chest, discomfort while breathing.
6. Nausea
7. A sense of loss of control, or fear of losing sanity
8. Feeling of impending doom
9. Light-headedness

If you suffer from any one of these, it doesn’t necessarily have to be because of an underlying anxiety/panic disorder. Many times, because of easily explainable factors such as worplace related stress, financial distress, an impending college exam, an important job interview, the body might display certain conditions that match the symptoms listed above. In such a scenario, don’t lose too much sleep over it.

When your body displays these symptoms without any apparent, logical and comprehensible reason, you should consider it a serious medical issue and consult a doctor. You may be suffering from a panic/anxiety disorder issue.

Feeling anxious, worried, fearful from time to time is a human trait; these are feelings we’ve all witnessed at some point of time in our lives. Anxiety is a part of human life. As an evolutionary mechanism, it helps us to cope with stress and unexpected situation.

When the anxiety gets out of control and takes on the form of an exaggerated and irrational fear, then it can be called an anxiety attack. An anxiety attack is a sudden, uncontrollable surge of overwhelming and irrational fear that often grips us without warning or any logical or apparent reason. Most anxiety attacks usually last for 10 to 15 minutes, though in the extreme cases, can last for days to months. An anxiety attack is far greater in intensity than a mere feeling of being anxious or stressed out, which can be day to day occurrences.

Statistically, 1in 75 people in the world experience some form of anxiety attack at some point in their life.

An anxiety attack is usually accompanied by a very strong urge to escape from the immediate surroundings or where the attack begun. Most patients of anxiety attacks report a shortness of breath, an irrational fear of immediate death, loss of control and sanity, and a general feeling of impending doom.

Usually, if you suffer from an acute phobia, you will experience an attack as a response to the phobia trigger. For instance, people afraid of swimming (even when they know how to swim) will experience severe anxiety if they are thrown into a swimming pool. Often, in the case of chronic anxiety, anxiety attacks form a chain, with one leading to the other.

In terms of duration, an attack can last anything from one minute to ten. These 10 minutes of an attack, however, are often described by sufferers as the longest minutes of their lives, and can easily be the most disturbing and traumatizing minutes of one’s life. During an anxiety attack, firstly, there is a release of sudden, irrational fear that triggers the release of excessive adrenaline. This extra adrenaline in turn, triggers the flight-or-fight response – an evolutionary mechanism that helps prepare the body for physical activity in response to a sudden and oppressive situation. As a result, the heart rate increases dramatically and breathing becomes difficult, and is usually accompanied by mild to heavy sweating. Often, a person starts hyperventilating during an anxiety attack, i.e., breathe in rapidly at an abnormal rate. Hyperventilation causes lowered carbon dioxide levels in the lungs and blood, which can lead to dizziness, numbness, nausea, or lightheadedness.

An anxiety attack can be a serious medical condition. If you believe you suffer, or have suffered from such attacks in the past, please do not hesitate to seek professional medical help. Anxiety related disorders can usually be treated very easily through a combination of psychotherapy and medications. Remember to take things easy and learn to relax – stress is, after all, one of the major causes of anxiety.

Anxiety Disorders Are Easily Treatable

We all know what anxiety feels like – butterflies in the stomach, all emotions turned upside down, heart beating violently, furious sweating. All of us have come face to face with an anxiety attack at some point in our lives. Maybe it was before your speaking engagement before the big crowd in the auditorium, or before your first job interview, or that all important presentation to the board of directors – anxiety, is a universal emotion, and a normal reaction to stress.

As an evolutionary device, anxiety is very helpful in dealing with stress, tense and unexpected situations. Anxiety can stir you up into action, give you focus and heightened powers of concentration. Anxiety might help you stay up all through the night before that big exam, be funny or interesting on the first date, be confident at the presentation. To generalize matters, anxiety helps you deal with situations you would be terrified of being in in normal circumstances.

However, when anxiety elevates to excessive, irrational fear that impacts the very way we function and makes normal daily life impossible, then it has become more than mere anxiety – it is now a medical disorder.

Most anxiety disorders last for very short periods of time – a week or two – and do not really require serious medical attention. However, some anxiety disorders can be serious, lasting for months to year at a stretch, with the tendency to worsen exponentially if not treated in the early stages. Moreover, most anxiety disorders hardly occur in isolation – they’re usually accompanied by psychological and physical sickness. Most patients of anxiety disorders are also highly prone to drug and alcohol abuse.

Anxiety disorders can be broadly classified into five types:

1. General Anxiety Disorder

2. Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

3. Panic Disorder

4. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

5. Specific Phobias, Social Phobia and Social Anxiety Disorder

Each of these anxiety disorders have specific and varied symptoms, but all of them center around an excessive and irrational fear or dread.

If you believe you have anxiety disorder, or your daily life has been hampered due to some irrational fear, it would be prudent to seek medical help right away before your condition worsens. Anxiety disorders are some of the most easily treatable mental illnesses and a lot of specific therapies and medications have been developed to help patients fight their anxieties. Remember that anxiety is a universal emotion that impacts everybody at one point of time or the other, and can be overcome very easily.

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