If you want to understand more about what a panic attack actually is, you first have to gain some knowledge of the many definitions of an attack. This can be one of the most frightening things that can happen to any individual that has never experienced it before. Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense anxiety, mounting fear, stomach problems, general discomfort and are associated with a variety of somatic and cognitive symptoms.
The onset of these episodes is typically abrupt and may have no apparent reasons behind it. Some research suggests that the symptoms of a panic attack usually last for about thirty minutes. Some episodes only last for under 20 seconds in duration. However, on some occasions these attacks have been known to happen consistently over an extended period of time and sometimes they can even last for a few hours. The afflicted person experiences anticipatory anxieties and limited symptom attacks in between the panic attacks.
An attack is often consciously linked to the fear of not being able to escape a bad situation. A feeling of being trapped and being unable to get free is very common. How intense the feeling of anxiety gets until panic ensues, will very from person to person. The first-time sufferers, at times, call for emergency services. This is because they fear that they are displaying the symptoms of a heart attack or a nervous breakdown.
Common symptoms include: heart palpitations, trembling or shivering continually, chest pain and a shortness of breathe. Such physical symptoms are interpreted with alarm in many people the first time them experience them. Panic attacks can be distinguished from other attacks of anxiety by the intensity and the sudden yet cyclical nature. A link to it panic disorders being hereditary has been revealed in certain research reports. Environmental factors such as overtly cautious view of the world expressed by elders / parents and cumulative stress have been found to be the reason.
Biological deficiencies or Vitamin B deficiency owing to inadequate diet can also trigger anxiety attacks. Sometimes the feeling of panic can be brought on by triggers such as being in situations that they are prone to have a phobic response in. Incidents of personal loss, significant life change or even the intake of stimulants like nicotine, caffeine or drugs can trigger an attack.
People who suffer from attacks can be successfully treated with therapy and anti-anxiety medicines or anti-depressants. There are also many natural remedies for panic attacks Other treatments include diaphragmatic breathing that is slow breathing through the nose using the diaphragm and abdomen, acceptance and acknowledgment and floating with the symptoms as well as talking to supportive persons. Panic attacks are frightening but fortunately physically harmless. They are often random in their occurrence and they don’t necessarily need any medical assistance or intervention to go away by themselves.
