Would You Know if You Had a Panic Attack?

Have you ever experienced sweating, chest pain, dizziness, hot flashes, sudden chills or difficulty breathing for no reason? Maybe it was a tingling in your fingers with a sharp pain in your chest that only lasted a couple of minutes and passed. Perhaps you were driving or in the shower, and just told yourself that if it happened again you would go see the doctor. If you’ve experienced any of these symptoms you may be one of the 2.5 million Americans that have suffered from panic disorder, a form of anxiety disorder.

Panic disorder is more common that you might think. Nearly 4 percent of American adults suffer from the disorder on a regular basis, and over 20 percent will have at least one episode in their lifetime. These panic attacks seem to appear for no reason, can be very scary, and can lead to agoraphobia due to avoidance of situations and triggers that could bring on an attack. For instance, if someone has reoccurring panic attacks in their car, they may avoid driving altogether. Because of this, panic attacks can have an extreme affect on the individual’s life.

In addition to physical symptoms, panic attacks are usually accompanied by feelings of extreme fear that seems to have no basis in reality. The person experiencing the attack may not even be aware that they are feeling anxious or fearful. Since the physical sensations are not connected to any previous thought of anxiety or fear, the occurrence of a panic attack may not even enter the mind of the person experiencing the attack. For instance, they may think it is a heart issue due to chest pain, or asthma due to difficulty breathing.

Panic Disorder is oftentimes misdiagnosed due to the various symptoms, which can range from breathing-related symptoms and gastrointestinal issues to heart related symptoms. Many individuals spend a lot of time and money trying to figure out what is ailing them.

Fortunately, once a panic disorder is diagnosed it is treatable with cognitive behavioral therapy to treat the underlying thoughts of anxiety and fear that caused the panic attacks, and medications such as antidepressants. The best treatment is usually a treatment that involves both, for overall emotional and physical relief.






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