Anxiety & Panic Attack Symptoms
Anyone who has every suffered an anxiety or panic attack, knows how utterly helpless and disabling it can feel. It's thought that at least one out of every 75 people throughout the world will suffer a panic attack at least once. In fact, at least 40 million adults in the United States are affected with panic attacks and seek medical help for the condition.-
Symptoms
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The symptoms of a panic attack generally come on suddenly and without warning. It will most likely be the most intense feeling of anxiety you will ever feel. A person suffering through a panic attack will more than likely feel his heartbeat racing, difficulty in breathing, an almost paralyzing terror fill his body, chest pain, dizziness, nausea and trembling. He may also feel like he is on the verge of going crazy or dying.
Identification
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The panic attack will come on suddenly and will be a combination of all the symptoms listed above. This is called Panic Anxiety Disorder and is diagnosed when a person experiences severe and sudden episodes of panic or anxiety. Though panic attacks are not life-threatening, they can fill the person with terror and a feeling of losing control and going insane. A person is not having a panic attack if she is being faced with a life-threatening situation or suffering a medical condition that has the same symptoms of a panic attack.
An attack reaches full intensity within the first minutes of the onset of the attack. It can take anywhere from 30 minutes to several hours for the attack to subside. Many people suffering an attack for the first time will seek medical attention in the emergency room.
Who's at Risk?
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Three-quarters of the people suffering panic attacks are women. Panic Anxiety Disorder seems to affect people in their 20s or 30s, seeming to decrease as a person enters her 40s. It is very rare and unlikely that a person in her senior years will suffer an attack for the first time. Some researchers have found that people that felt abandoned as a child seem to be more likely to be affected by this disorder, though it can affect emotionally healthy people as well. It's thought that even with a healthy person, some emotional or anxiety problem occurred before the disorder began.
Causes
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Years ago Panic Anxiety Disorder wasn't clearly understood by most medical experts, and was thought to be caused by some psychological problem that was deeply rooted within the person. Now most experts look at the disorder as a physical problem caused by a problem within the metabolic core. Researches have found that there is an abnormality in the locus ceruleus, which is a small never center located in the stem of the brain. This part of the brain controls functions such as heartbeat and breathing, as well as other functions of the body. Though science and the evidence that has been found points to a physical problem, many medical professionals still consider the disorder a psychological one.
Treatments
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Though a panic attack is not life-threatening, it can threaten the life a person normally leads. If a person has repeated attacks, he may start to avoid certain activities and places he normally would go. If you are suffering reoccurring bouts of panic attacks, it's best to seek medical treatment as soon as possible, as well as educate yourself to the disorder. Panic Anxiety Disorder is a treatable condition, and most people will return to feeling normal within weeks or months after receiving the appropriate treatment.
Panic attacks are treated with three different types of medications. Antidepressants have been shown to block the attack completely with no long-term dependency issues. It may take weeks to several months for the antidepressants to completely work. Benzodiazepine tranquilizers have been approved for use for panic attacks for over a decade. The side effects of these types of medications are few and they seem to stop the attack almost immediately. Nardil is a medication that is effective, but used as a last resort. When using Nardi it's important to follow the doctor's strict dietary and medication restrictions. Failure to do so can result in extremely elevated blood pressure. This medication is used when nothing else has seemed to help the panic attacks.
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