The symptoms of panic attacks will vary quite a bit between people. In addition to that, the severity of the symptoms will vary as well.
This article will discuss the most common signs and symptoms of panic attacks, how to tell the difference between this health problem and other problems that mimic it, as well as the most effective therapies for panic attacks.
Before we discuss the symptoms of panic attacks, though, we first need to briefly talk about what occurs with this health problem so the symptoms and treatments make sense.
Within healthcare, an anxiety attack is actually classified as a psychological problem. But this is actually not really true, because this health problem is actually more of a problem with the nervous system than it is mental.
Stress is the most common trigger, but panic attacks actually occur due to how the person’s nervous system responds to that stress.
Basically, an individual who suffers with panic attacks experiences a much more severe reaction to what would make most of us nervous. In order to understand this, we need to first have an understanding of the parts of the nervous system that are involved when we experience stress.
They are called the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS). Instead of making this boring like a text book, let me tell you a story to explain how this works.
Let’s say that a bear walks in the room as you’re reading this article. Your brain will identify the bear as stress, because it threatens your life (and I don’t know about you, but I’m a little on the chunky side, so I’d make a pretty good meal for that bear).
Your brain is hard-wired for survival, so in this instant, it has to make a decision – do you run from the bear or fight it? Either way, the body needs to be ready for this extra activity, so your brain will turn on the Sympathetic Nervous System.
This part of your nervous system prepares your body to either fight or flee – so your blood pressure increases (you need lots of oxygen going to the muscles so they can prepare you to run fast or fight), your heart beats faster, you breathe more deeply, and many other things.
Once the bear has left, the brain turns on the other part of the nervous system that I mentioned (the Parasympathetic Nervous System), which does the opposite – it calms you down.
When a person suffers with panic attacks, this response is intensified – so, there might only be 1 bear in the room, but your brain thinks there’s actually 5 bears. This is where the problem occurs.
So, with that said, what are the signs and symptoms of panic attacks? Well, the symptoms of panic attacks are different for each person, and they can be experienced to different degrees.
Some people will have very minor panic attacks, so may not even realize what is occurring. Others have full-blown, very intense attacks that make them believe they may be dying.
Click here (signs and symptoms of panic attacks) to continue reading this article, where you’ll discover the most common symptoms of panic attacks, as well as the most effective treatments available for relief from this health problem.
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