Physical Health Guide

Anxiety, anxiety attack and panic attack; what’s the difference? To understand each status, let’s take a look at each one severally. If you recognise the symptoms associated with each and suffer on a regular basis then you should consider seeking professional help.

Anxiety

If you experience fear on a regular basis but there is no physical presence or entity present at the time inducing that fear, then you are in anxiety mode. Fear and worrying situations will pervade a sufferers thoughts and physical symptoms such as breathlessness, chest pains, sweats and racing heart can be evident.

More serious sufferers can develop phobias such as agoraphobia, described as a fear of open spaces or being away from a person’s normal spot of refuge. Fear of social interaction or fear of being humiliated are extensions of anxiety. The result… sufferers tend to avoid certain situations or withdraw socially.

Anxiety Attacks

Anxiety attacks usually come without warning, and although the fear is generally irrational, the perceived danger is very real. Symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks / anxiety attacks include racing heart, hyperventilation or breathing difficulties, as well as chest pain, nausea or dizziness, headaches, shaking and trembling, and many more. Anxiety can also exacerbate many pre-existing medical conditions, such as ulcers, hypertension, and respiratory conditions including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. moreover, anxiety is associated with mitral valve prolapse, chronic fatigue syndrome, sleep apnea, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic tension headaches. Behavioural therapy – performed with a mental health professional to help gain control over unasked behaviour. Cognitive therapy – equal to behavioural therapy but dealing with unhelpful and unproductive thoughts patterns.Anxiety medications can be habit forming and may have unwanted side effects, so be sure to research your options.

Panic Attacks

Physical Symptoms of a Panic Attack:

There are many different physical symptoms that are easy to recognize. The most common physical symptoms are tightness in chest or stomach and increased heart rate. The tightness in your chest could lead to hyperventilation, lightheadedness, dizziness, or heart palpitations.

Perceptual Symptoms of Panic Attacks

Your perception of the world and even yourself are drastically altered when you suffer from panic attacks. Some perceptual symptoms you will experience are tunnel vision, the perceived hurrying up or slowing down of time, heightened senses, or the feeling of dissociation, where you feel like you aren’t connected to your own body.

Mental Symptoms of Panic Attacks

When you experience a panic attack, many times you’ll experience the severe mental symptoms. Some of the mental symptoms of a panic attack include irrational thinking or racing thoughts. You may feel like something bad is about to happen or that things around you aren’t real.

Seeking Help

Many sufferers don’t seek help because of the stigma attached with these conditions. Labelled as a mental health condition, it seems to suggest anxiety panick attack makes their behaviour abnormal. Many suffer in silence or resign themselves to avoiding too much social interaction for fear of having an attack.