Panic Symptoms: Are You Suffering a Panic Attack?

Panic attacks can affect any person, at any time, for any reason – or even for no apparent reason. Those who have experienced them describe them as being the most horrifying and disturbing events of their lives. The symptoms of a panic attack can manifest themselves in a number of different ways. It helps to understand these panic symptoms, so that you can know if you are suffering from a panic attack and seek the appropriate help before it gets out of hand.

Before discussing symptoms, it is important to understand the possible causes of a panic attack, as there are many. Genetics is one possible cause of panic attacks. Panic attacks run in some families, and even a person who lives a stress free life can be prone to panic attacks if they have the genes for it. While nature plays a part, so does ones upbringing. For example, people whose parents are extreme worrywarts may inadvertently cause their children to develop panic attacks. Regardless of parental influence, anyone who has an extremely high stress life can be subject to panic attacks.

Beyond that, anyone who suffers from another mental disorder, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder or posttraumatic stress disorder, is a prime candidate for panic attacks. Finally, some panic attacks are triggered by a person’s phobia, and the panic response is the reaction when introduced to the object of the phobia.

Interestingly, one thing that has been linked to panic attacks is a lack of assertiveness in one’s social dealings. Basically, anyone who is consistently as passive an unobtrusive as possible may develop panic symptoms. There are some other controllable factors that can lead to panic attacks as well. For instance, people who abuse drugs or alcohol are at a higher risk of developing this problem.

Now, let’s move on to a discussion of panic symptoms. The one symptom that is common in all panic attacks is pure fear and general discomfort. People suffering from an attack may not be able to label any one thing as the source of this fear, which can make the whole experience even more harrowing. This fear is actually what causes the physical symptoms of a panic attack to occur. The body believes it is in imminent physical danger, and so it preps itself to take action to escape or defeat that danger.

Once a panic attack is triggered, a number of panic symptoms can occur. Common symptoms include a pounding heartbeat, sweating, shaking, feelings of asphyxiation or choking, chest pain, nausea, dizziness or fainting, feelings of personal detachment, numbness and hot or cold flushes. People also develop a sudden fear of dying or going insane. If you have experience some of those symptoms, you may have had a panic attack, and you should seek help, as they can and often do reoccur. Some people believe that panic attacks will only be a one-time thing, but that is rarely the case. Furthermore, attacks tend to get worse, not better, as time goes on – so seeking help should be done as quickly as possible.