Panic Attacks Signs Symptoms and Recovery

panic attack is a distinct time period of extreme fear or discomfort that is accompanied by one or more of the accompanying symptoms.

Symptoms might include:
palpitations
sweating
trembling or shaking
shortness of breath or smothering
feelings of choking
chest pain or discomfort
nausea or abdominal distress
dizziness or light-headedness
pins and needles
diarrhea
dry mouth
headache
derealization or depersonalization
and chills or hot flushes


The two main types of panic attacks are: 1.Spontaneous attacks and 2. Situational panic attacks. Here are the definitions to both of them.

1) Spontaneous Panic Attacks These are not affiliated with a situational spark and appear to come 'out of the blue'. These panic attacks can happen during periods of relaxation or when sleeping.

2) Situational Panic Attacks Occur either in expectancy of a situation or in a situation where an assault has previously been felt. Generally the symptoms become evident as one enters the situation.

Here are outlined a few of the fears people have resulting from the panic attack symptoms.

Three of the most basic fears created by the panic symptoms are:

1) Losing Control, Will I black out in Public? Am I Having A Heart Attack? Experiencing Out of Touch Impressions or a Sense of Unreality

2)"Am I going crazy?"

3) It is perceivable for anyone to fear they may be going crazy when they suffer from the panic attack symptoms. There's so little actual public awareness of mental illness so people frequently leap to extreme conclusions. These conclusions are generally based on misinformation and an active mental imagery.

4 more fears of panic attack sufferers are:

1) Losing Control

During a panic attack, because of the symptoms the people are experiencing, they are inclined to believe they are going to "lose control". This deprivation of control can be physical' i.e. - that all your critical organs will completely lose control of themselves and descend into total chaos or that the person will mentally lose a grasp on realness. Oftentimes, it is those who detest being embarrassed in public, suffer from this fear the most.

One thing you must remember is. You are not going to lose it. As a matter of fact, I am pretty confident, that with all the panic attacks you might have felt in public places.  The chance that somebody even made the observation that you were embarrassed is slim to none. In the society that we live, we are naturally social animals and fear to be seen in some kind of embarrassing situation. i.e. Doing something we feel is against the "social norm", such as yelling out in a restaurant or maybe even bolting out of a get together with no explanation. In the end, even if we do embarrass ourselves In a public situation, what does it matter we are only human.

2) Passing Out in Public

Panic attack symptoms are usually brought on by a feeling of being light headed, which in turn brings on the fear of blacking out or fainting, usually this happens in public places. The reason this fear escalates to this extreme is because if you black out in a public place we become defenseless, especially whenever we do not have a friend with us. The overwhelming feeling of: How and who will help me if I am passed out on the floor in a public place? Automatically goes thru the persons head. Also in advanced cases, the thought of never waking up or falling into a coma crosses the persons mind.  These are just a few of the panic ridden thought process that the person deals with.

3) Heart Attacks

The concern of having a heart attack to anyone that deals or has dealt with panic attacks is a very major concern to that person. A person that deals with panic attack symptoms at some point will fear for the health of their heart. There are differing components associated with heart attacks that are not associated with panic attacks. here are some heart attack symptoms.  look and see how they are different from panic attacks.

The major symptoms of heart disease are shortness of breath and chest pain as well as irregular palpitations and fainting. Such symptoms are in most instances related to the amount of physical effort exerted. I.e.' the heavier you exercise the more distressing the symptoms and the less you exercise the less frequent the symptoms become.

Occasionally individuals have similar concerns about their heart as they do with their breathing. People actually convince themselves that if they worry enough about their heart or concentrate too much upon its activities. Their heart will get confused and forget how to beat correctly. It is common for people who suffer from panic attacks to keep a regular tab on their heart to see if it is still beating or beating irregularly.

4) Thoughts of Unreality

Out of all the symptoms that panic attack sufferers have this symptom is the least talked about or written about.  This symptom is usually brought on by, exuberant anxiety or in other words extreme or excessive anxiety.  it is the sensing as if nothing is real, everything is not reality.  The people that feel this also have the feeling, that they are losing their minds.

People that have experienced panic attack symptoms have been reported as having beliefs of not being a part of their world or having a sense of nothing being real.  These sensations are depicted by the person as if their life is a projection of a movie.  This scenario is most often only found in people that suffer from advanced symptoms.

I mention this because the condition is not often spoken about‚ and to reassure those of you who may have experienced this sensation‚ that it is only a side–effect of excessive anxiety and will pass as soon as the body learns to relax.

This article is not meant to be an exhaustive list of symptoms for panic attacks, anxiety or stress.  But it is written to show some of the signs and symptoms that people face that have panic attacks or anxiety issues