Public speaking is probably the number one cause for anxiety attack symptoms that everyone has felt.  When was your last experience in presenting something or giving a speech? Do you feel agitated just thinking about it? It is easy for you to recall those feelings. You may have felt nauseous, weak, forgotten your materials, and wanted to get away from the situation. Those feelings are typical of an anxiety attack.

Most people can understand the anxiety attack symptoms felt before speaking to a large group of people. A fear of public speaking can sometimes escalate into more serious and developed anxiety attack symptoms that can impair a person’s ability to interact with others on a day to day basis. These anxiety attack symptoms can severely affect a person’s social life as well as have a negative impact on his or her career.

If a businessman is suffering from anxiety related problems in the workplace, he may start to develop anxiety attack symptoms when he is driving into work. To avoid these symptoms, he might stop driving altogether. If he is questioned about his job when he is in a social environment, this can cause the person to begin to withdraw from social circles.

Anxiety attack symptoms vary in both frequency and intensity from person to person. For example, a person seeing a spider may start shaking or wailing or showing other symptoms rather than just having an internal feeling of panic. Anxiety attacks are experienced by nearly everyone under different circumstances.

Different people experience anxiety attack symptoms in different ways, some less intense, some very intense, and they happen at different frequencies too. Rather than just having the panicky feelings whenever they see a mouse, for example, they may start crying or shaking or showing other more noticeable symptoms. Anxiety attack symptoms can even be triggered in some people when they view a photograph of a spider, see an image of one on TV or in a film, or when they hear a person mention an experience with a spider.

The range of things that can spark anxiety attack symptoms for those who experience an increased anxiety level seems to be out of the person’s ability to control. One triggering event can create another triggering event.

A serious anxiety problem will occur easily in almost anyone who allows an anxiety trigger to snowball. There is help available from a counselor or doctor, or check out Panic Away. Anxiety attack symptoms are something that happens often, and effective treatment is available. There’s no reason to suffer through it on your own.

Experiencing a panic attack for the first time can be distressing not only because of the actual experience during the attack but also because you may develop fear of future attacks. Also known as anticipatory anxiety, fear of future attacks causes continuous fear and tension, impacting your ability to relax. Often when the condition is not addressed, it will lead to phobic avoidance wherein you avoid places, situations, gatherings, and events where emergency help is not readily available or where having an attack can be embarrassing.

Taken to extreme, this condition may lead to agoraphobia where you begin to avoid much of the activities you usually do. To avoid this, consider the following advices:

1. Consult your medical doctor. Symptoms attributed to panic attacks such racing heart, chest pain, heavy breathing, profuse sweating, agitation, etc., are also common to other physiological and psychological conditions. Seeking a proper diagnosis from your doctor, therefore, will rule out any cause unrelated to anxiety. Tell him your symptoms, when did the attack happen, and how intense the attack was. Your doctor will ask about your past medical history and may run some tests (e.g. urine test, blood test, drug screens, etc.).

2. See a therapist who is properly trained to handle such psychological condition. No, you are not crazy (people who go to a therapist are not crazy). The reason why you have to see a therapist is to process your emotion and prevent future attacks. Do not wait too long to seek help. Left untreated, a panic attack can lead to more severe conditions. Your therapist may subject you to cognitive-behavioral therapy and exposure therapy to process your thoughts.

3. Find the cause of the attack. Some cases of panic attacks may show a “pattern” – certain activity, thoughts, time or person you are with at the time of the attack. These give you important clues to eliminate later symptoms.

4. Learn some relaxation techniques you can practice at home or while out. Music, meditation, yoga, and breathing techniques are not only helpful in reducing the symptoms during the actual attack but also in strengthening your body’s relaxation response.

5. Do not add more fear. Absorbing all the fears and other negative thoughts that come with anxiety attack only adds to more fear which worsen the negative impact even further. Instead, recognize that you are afraid and make it work to your advantage.

6. Practice healthy lifestyle (regular exercise, balanced diet, and enough sleep). Studies prove that at little as 30 minutes of physical activity 3 to 5 times a week is a great stress buster, helpful in preventing future attacks. Balanced diet keeps the supply of nutrients and maintains the balance of chemical in the body. Sleeping at least 8 hours each day recharges the body, refreshes the mind, and calms the muscles.

7. Remove all unnecessary stress. Since, panic attacks are closely linked to stress, avoiding things, people, and situations that stress you out help reduce the chance of future attacks.

8. Educate yourself about panic attacks. There are many resources where you can learn more about the condition. Reading books, health magazines and internet articles about panic attack will definitely equip you with the right information on how to combat any negative effects it brings.

If you’re someone who experiences frequent anxiety attacks, you may think that your life has become something of a nightmare.  Anxiety attacks can happen almost anytime, anywhere, and with or without good reason.  They can make both your work life and your social life an impossible task, as they can be so very overwhelming both mentally and physically.  But take heart, there is help for your anxiety attacks, in the form of medicines and behavioral therapy to get you through them.

While there are sometimes reasons for anxiety attacks, doctors are also sometimes baffled at what causes them and why.  Some persons have imbalances of chemicals in the brain or seem to have a certain type of internal wiring that causes these attacks sporadically, like sudden surges of electricity that are without warning or reason.  Scientists still have so much to learn about the human brain and its wiring and workings, so it’s really no surprise that they are at a loss when it comes to something as odd as unprovoked anxiety attacks.

But doctors have learned that many medications such as Zoloft or Paxil have a calming effect on the processes that control or trigger anxiety and compulsions.  These medications keep the hormones and other elements responsible for anxiety attacks on an even keel, so to speak.  They can keep someone more calm at all times, and work well regardless of the type of anxiety, be it panic attacks, social anxiety disorder, or even obsessive compulsive disorder.

Anxiety attacks are also helped with cognitive or behavioral therapy, meaning the learning of new ways of thinking or behaving.  If someone can learn that their anxiety attacks are the result of how they think or of how they view something, then they can lessen these attacks.  Learning how to talk themselves through a panic attack or how to calm their obsessive or compulsive behavior can go a long way toward keeping anxiety attacks at bay, or at the very least, keeping them in their place so that they have less of an effect on the sufferer.

So if you’re someone that suffers from anxiety attacks in any form, it’s strongly encouraged that you speak with your doctor.  Whether you want to try medications or not, there is help available for you.  And at the very least, you can be put in touch with others who are suffering from the same symptoms as you in order to get support and encouragement for your condition.

What is a panic attack?

A panic attack is a sudden attack of exaggerated anxiety and fear. Often, attacks happen without warning and without any apparent reason. Some people may experience just one episode of panic attack, while others can have recurring episodes. Recurring episodes usually happen after a person is exposed to various events or situations that may “trigger” panic. While it is generally harmless, panic attacks can severely disable a person physically, emotionally and psychologically. In extreme cases, panic attacks can lead to panic disorder.

Who gets panic attacks?

The condition affects many people. It is believed that 10% of the total population is suffering from panic attacks, yet many are still undiagnosed or under-diagnosed. They tend to occur more on young adults. Female are twice as prone to have an attack as male. It is also said that the condition is genetically inherited so panic attacks may run in the family.

How do I know if I am having an attack?

A panic attack can be identified with different signs and symptoms. They include increased heartbeat or palpitation, chest pain, hyperventilation or shortness of breath, stomach churning, upset stomach, trembling and shaking, muscle tension, sweating, dizziness and light-headedness, hot or cold flashes, tingling sensation or numbness, fear of dying, going crazy or losing control and feeling detached from the surroundings.

The signs and symptoms of panic attacks are similar to a heart attack. The former is not dangerous, the latter can be deadly. It is best therefore to seek for emergency medical help, especially if the patient experiences it for the first time.

What causes an attack?

Many panic attacks happen without any apparent reason; they just come out of the blue. However, attacks may be caused by past traumatic experiences such as death of a loved one, family conflicts, bad relationships, divorce of parents, car accident, public humiliation, etc. An attack may occur when a person is exposed to various events or situations almost similar to the past that may “trigger” panic.

Stress is closely linked to panic attacks. Triggers include stressful life event as well as stressful working and living environment. Genetics is also believed to cause an attack.

What should I do during an attack?

Panic attacks peak from 5 to 10 minutes; it rarely lasts for more than half an hour. But during this time, you can experience discomfort such as those signs and symptoms mentioned above. Since the increased in heart rate is the main reason for experiencing other symptoms, it is important to take control of your breathing during an attack. Breathe slowly and deeply as you can. Breathe in slowly for 3 counts then hold your breath for the next 3 slow counts. Then, exhale for 3 slow counts.

Do this until you are calm. If you are able to stand, get up slowly and walk around. It is also helpful to breathe into a plastic or a paper bag. This allows you to re-breathe your carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide helps correct the blood acid level that had been disturbed by excessive breathing.

While practicing deep breathing, try to focus your attention away from the cause of panic. Replace your anxious thoughts with happy ones. If available, do something that will occupy your mind such as solving puzzles and playing word games.

Probably the most traumatic aspect of anxiety disorder is the occurrence of a panic attack. This sudden onset of fearful symptoms and mental agitation have been described as the most unsettling thing a person can endure without having physical damage done to them.

Anxiety itself is created from the illogical and unnecessary fears that a person may have developed through their life. These phobias can strike without warning when the proper stimuli are encountered. By utilizing the emergency response “fight or flight” system within the body, the first thing to happen will be a flood of hormones, especially adrenaline, into the blood stream.

This action will instantly increase the heart rate and blood pressure with subsequent sweating and shaking. The irrational fear that the stimuli unleashes in the mind will often have the victim reacting in an anticipatory way. In effect they will be responding to what is only subjectively possible rather than the actual threat stimuli. These conflicting messages can create further panic and confusion as the body’s reactions fail to sort out the proper action to take to alleviate the condition.

Often a person in the middle of an anxiety panic attack will either freeze up or collapse in a fit of nervous disorder. A panic attack can be so traumatic for some that medical help is sometimes needed in order to calm the person down enough to not be a treat to themselves.

Those who suffer repeated panic attacks will often develop a full-blown case of agoraphobia, which is not a fear of the outdoors but a fear of embarrassment in social situations. These attacks leave the victim feeling so helpless to be in control of their actions that they become severely introverted and hide away from any situation that may trigger an attack of this irrational fear within them.