What Is A Panic Attack Symptom?
Perhaps once, or more than once, you have found yourself suddenly oppressed by a sense of fear and anxiety that seemed to come from nowhere. Afterwards you may have felt exhausted and confused. How do you know if what you are experiencing is a panic attack symptom?
If you are asking yourself this question, there’s a good chance the answer is yes. In fact, that lack of identifiable cause is one of the prime symptoms of a panic attack.
A panic attack is actually pretty easy to diagnose, since its name is self-explanatory. Like an attack, an episode of panic tends to come on suddenly and powerfully. And if “panic” means “intense fear,” some of the common symptoms of a panic attack certainly justify that label. Many people experience breathlessness, chest pain and a racing pulse that makes them feel as if they are having or about to have a heart attack. The fear of dying is indeed an intense fear.
One of the remarkable and defining characteristics of a panic attack is that while it starts entirely in the mind—as a feeling of anxiety or fear—it sets off a whole series of very physical reactions. Possible effects include pounding heart, sweating, hot flashes and chills, shaking, nausea and cramps, dizziness and fainting, hyperventilation, shortness of breath, a choking sensation, and a feeling of numbness and mental detachment.
The typical panic attack will reach a peak within 10 minutes and be over in a half an hour—though some last longer. It is such an intense and upsetting experience that it may leave aftereffects like exhaustion and continued anxiety for some time. Some panic attacks occur at night, waking the victim from a sound sleep with the full range of symptoms. These events are less common and pass more quickly, but the sleep disruption they cause can be equally debilitating.
Panic attack can easily escalate into a full-blown panic disorder. After a first attack, a vicious cycle may begin, as the victim develops a self-fulfilling fear of another attack: since the attack is triggered by anxiety, the fear of having another attack simply feeds the cycle. The same fear can lead someone to avoid the situations or places where they experienced an episode previously, in case that was the trigger. This kind of avoidance can become an actual phobia—yet another anxiety disorder. And if you start avoiding too many situations and places, your daily life can become difficult, even dysfunctional.
Panic disorder is diagnosed in someone who has recurrent, unexpected panic attacks followed by ongoing concerns (for at least a month) about recurrence, preoccupation with what could happen during an attack (e.g., death or a heart attack), and a significant change in their actions or behaviors due to the attacks.
Some sources estimate that 12 percent of the human population will experience a panic attack in the course of their lives. Fortunately, not everyone who experiences occasional panic attacks will develop panic disorder. But the attacks alone can be a serious problem, worth seeking treatment for.
