Panic Attack: Do You Know What It Is?


by Yap Kee Chong - Date: 2006-12-03 - Word Count: 538 Share This!

What is panic attack? A brief period of time that involves extreme emotions with a lot of fear, all of which has a high psychological impact and seems to physically afflict the victim with problems that are imaginary but feel very real. This attack begins suddenly, without warning, and lasts only for a couple of minutes, though in extreme case it has been known to go on for as much as half-an-hour. However you define what is panic attack, there are some common symptoms associated with this condition and most victims will feel some combination of them though fear is observed to be the ruling emotion in all victims. You can know what is panic attack when you witness the following in combinations.

Trembling, choking or shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pains, nausea, sweating, vertigo or dizziness, tingling, and other complaints of breathing trouble, chest constriction, loss of self control, and fear of death or some impending doom. What causes panic attacks is that some imaginary conditions trigger a real response in the body, causing a sudden and sharp increase in the adrenaline levels. Among other descriptions provided by victims when asked what is panic attack, many have said that they have never encountered anything that frightened them more.

When panic attacks happen frequently and under different circumstances that make it impossible to get a fix on what is triggering them, then that is an indication of the person having developed a panic disorder. However, panic attacks are often associated with anxiety disorders in which case the triggers are well known but not always apparent. This is most common among people who suffer from phobias or other psychological disorders like depression. People with phobias can get panic attacks even through contemplation of being in a position where their phobia is most pronounced. Similarly, the use of recreational drugs, alcohol, and other stimulants is also related to panic attacks.

People suffering from panic attacks often take themselves to emergency rooms fearing that they are about to die. This is not unnatural when you consider that during panic attacks they feel they cannot breathe, are losing all self-control, cannot think clear, vision might become impaired in some cases, and the fear makes them wish that they were somewhere else, in other words, they have a deep and uncontrollable desire to run away from the present situation and circumstance to avoid what they are going through and since they cannot do that, they feel that death is now imminent. The only place they can think of doing is getting medical help.

Panic attacks are easily differentiated from heightened anxiety through their intensity and random though recurring nature. While there is no medical evidence linking psychological or mental disorders as causes of panic attacks, it has been witnessed that people with such disorders are more susceptible to them.

During panic attacks, the body goes through the following process with minor variations. The patient will feel fear for no real reason that will release lot of adrenaline into the blood. This increases the heart rate and sweating as the adrenaline signals the body to get ready for action. However, since all the extra energy is not used it causes fluctuations in the blood pH leading to other symptoms.


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