What are panic attacks?

Answer 1

It's a severe case of anxiety, usually brought about by a particular stimulus. Often it can be seeing or thinking about something that elevates your anxiety and sometimes it can even be the FEAR that you'll think about something. Imagine that someone has been attacked by a dog when he/she was little and spent months in a hospital recovering. It would be quite understandable for the child to have a great amount of anxiety regarding dogs, experience uncontrollable fear, hyperventilate and basically become incapable of normal reaction to the environment. The condition could become so severe that the child could experience the panic attack even if he/she thought about dogs. Once that level of anxiety is reached, it's not much of a stretch for the child to be afraid to even THINK about dogs, so every time the child�s mind even approaches the subject, there would be an immediate panic attack. A panic attack of that severity needs professional help. Panic attacks simply can be brought on by stress ... studying too hard, a death in the family, looking after sick parents and a myriad of other reasons. It can strike a person at any time and often to the person there is no reason for it. It's fear/flight reaction. You feel such panic (like someone that is out to get you chasing you down a dark alley and there is no one to help you) and you just want to run and hide. It's a constant battle of being all things without much of a break in between. I suffered from severe panic attacks back in the 1970s. I had just gotten married to my second husband, had a wonderful job and all was great and then my father had a stroke. He was often at home and so I worked long hours, tried to tend to my husband (who was wonderful and helpful) rush up to help my mom look after my father and then come home to clean-up the apartment, etc. and I'd flop into bed. I was averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night and it went on for many months. I got what I thought was a flu bug and didn't feel well so took a couple of days off work. I was fine for several months and then one day I was sitting behind my typewriter and doing a report when I felt like I'd been hit behind the head with a 2 x 4 and I broke out into a sweat and had the most terrible fear of "dread" and wanted to run and hide, but didn't know where to run too. I ended up having the receptionist phone my husband to pick me up and it was downhill from there. I was terrified and simply didn't know what was happening to me and had to quit my job (although they were wonderful and kept my job open for a year with full pay and when I said I couldn't come back right then they said I had a job when I was better. However, I didn't go back.) Back then they didn't know what it was, but I was fortunate to find an Irish doctor in Canada that did know and helped me a great deal with short-term antidepressants. I am sure if there was help available and more known about panic attacks then I would have been able to go back to work and have a normal life. Panic attacks are at a raging high right now. There is a lot of stress out there so it's best for people to learn "Cognitive Therapy" skills to ease the pressure of every day life. Eat well, don't drink too much caffeine (or eat too much chocolate), drink too much (they are all stimulants.) Exercise! Exercise working off the excess adrenal fluids (part of panic attacks) and gets those great endorphines moving to make you feel better. Panic attacks can also be genetic so I have found out in my recent studies. I have actually seen how the brain reacts to stress and it's certainly different than a person who does not suffer from constant panic attacks. Doctors do say that every person will experience 1 - 2 panic attacks in their lives. During perimenopause and menopause in women this can happen (any great hormone change) and men can get them when they are in their 40s plus during "Andropause" similar to women's menopause, but not as severe. The above poster is absolutely correct in saying that psychological treatment along with medications is a great way to get back on track. Some people may have relapses so they can always go to short-term antidepressants. There is Xanax for more instant relief of panic attacks, but since it's an addictive barbiturate I personally wouldn't recommend this for the young. There are other medications along with psychological counseling. People are often under the misconception that if you see a psychologist you are crazy. NOT TRUE! To this day if I'm inundated with many serious problems and I am exhausted I'll get what I call a "tune up" and bounce my ideas off my psychologist to see if I'm heading in the right direction. SIGNS OF A PANIC ATTACK: Terror and the urge to run and hide. Perspiring perfusely. Feeling week and legs like jelly. Terrified of everything around you. Afraid people will notice how you feel and that you are sure you look like a fool, but in reality you look quite normal and most people are not aware you are experiencing a panic attack. Vomiting, diarrhea can also be part of this from the stress and a lack of appetite (great weight loss) or, some people will eat themselves sick and gain a lot of weight. Not wanting to go anywhere. No wanting to see friends or go long distances. Possible fear of being alone, driving, going on holidays (too great a distance from the comfort of home). Panic attacks simply leave you sapped of energy. ANXIETY ATTACKS: Make you feel tight in the chest, tingling in the extremities (arms/legs) trembling, feeling nauseated, etc. It can often mimic a heart attack and many people end up in the ER feeling sure they are having a heart attack when they are actually having an anxiety attack. This too can be serious unless treated with medications to calm the person down and psychological treatment. I have take Tai Chi, Cognitive Therapy and am more laid-back. I NEVER take on more than I can handle and if too much is coming at me I take the more serious problems and work my way down to the lesser problems in life. I've also learned to say the word "no" to things I really don't want to tackle or don't want to do (in reason). I use to try and please everyone all the time and that was my downfall. I am more selective of what friends I have and if I give respect and don't get it back they are history. To put it bluntly I have simple taken as much stress out of my life as possible. We can't be 100% stress free, but we sure can lessen it a lot. I have research panic attacks and anxiety attacks for many years and I'm on top of what is coming up scientific wise. There is a small implant for the brain (sort of like a pacemaker for the heart) to correct the brain impulses, but it's not for use on humans just yet. There is also a new drug being tested on humans (who rave about it) that can erase the feelings of panic, post traumatic stress, etc., as a forgotten thing, but the person still remembers family, friends, etc. In other words this medication will work to block out what the person has suffered to cause panic attacks or anxiety attacks. The Army is very interest in this medication (FDA has not approved it yet, but will be in the near future) for men/women who come home from war with trauma issues.

Answer

Panic Disorder is a more of a phobia. It is due to the flight or fight feeling. For more information check the related links. Try the one move technique of panic away. It will eradicate all feelings of panic. 15-35 years
Panic disorder is when one panics more than one typically should. This basically describes a person who is in constant fear. Prescription can be used to help treat the disorder.

Answer 2

• Panic attacks are a very common type of disorder in our society. It isn't a surprise at all that the people who experience them are looking for a way to stop panic attacks. Panic attacks are described as a short relatively short episode of very intense fear that has a very quick onset. The DSM-IV defines a panic attack as "A discrete period of intense fear or discomfort in which, at least 4 of 13, symptoms develop abruptly and reach a peak within 10 minutes".

• Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense anxiety and discomfort that are associated with a variety of cognitive symptoms.

Answer 3

The terms "anxiety attack" and "panic attack" are used interchangeably in popular culture, but they have very specific and different meanings to psychiatrists.

An anxiety attack is when something bad happens to you or you're thinking about something bad and you get really anxious. You can get so anxious that you might even have some physical symptoms.

A panic attack on the other hand comes on all of a sudden, out of the blue for no reason at all, and it's all about your BODY or your MIND. You suddenly feel like you must be having a heart attack (or a stroke, or passing out, or choking, or vomiting, or going crazy, or losing all control) because your heart is racing, you're short of breath, you may have nausea or tightness in your throat, and you're shaking. A panic attack comes on within ten minutes, but can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours. The main feature of a panic attack is that you are worrying about your BODY or your MIND right then and there, rather than worrying about something in your life.

Answer 4

An disorder in which people have sudden and intense attacks of anxiety in certain situations. Symptoms such as shortness of breath, sweating, dizziness, chest pain, and extreme fear often accompany the attacks.

Answer 5

Panic disorders with or without agoraphobia. The chief characteristic of panic disorder is the occurrence of panic attacks coupled with fear of their recurrence.

Answer 6

Acute Anxiety