How Do You Know If You Are Having A Panic Attack?
May 20th, 2010
When a person experiences a panic attack they are often left with more questions that answers.
What just happened?
Was I having a heart attack?
Why did that happen?
What if it happens again?
Some of the symptoms of panic attack can mimic those of a heart attack and so it can be extremely frightening when you experience it for the first time and think that you are actually having a heart attack.
The fealing of dread that is often experienced during a panic attacks adds to that thought of something fateful occuring and that you feel like you are going to die.
So how do you know if you are having a panic attack?
The formidable symptoms of a panic attack come from our body’s built-in ‘flight or fight response system’.
A few workings of a human body’s ‘flight or fight response system’ are:
* Heart beat starts to increase manifold and pump excess of blood into our limbs so that we intend to fight or run;
* The flow of more blood into our limbs which causes less oxygen to reach our brains, makes available less blood to reach the stomach – one immediately feels dizziness and “butterflies” in the stomach;
* Sudden gushing of blood through major muscle groups makes the toes and fingers to have a feeling of tingling sensation;
* The feeling of suffocation in the lungs causes one to breathe faster to get increased amount of oxygen into the blood and the resultant blood rushing through the muscles during flight or fight makes one to feel having hyperventilating;
* Other symptoms are like having sweating, chillness of body, having hot flashes;
It can be hard to distinguish at first whether you are having a heart attack or a panic attack and so it is best to play it safe and seek medical help. Once a person has suffered from a panic attack or two then they will recognise the symptoms although it doesn’t really make it any less scary.
Even if you are just having a panic attack and not a heart attack, it is still important to seek help so that you don’t develop a full panic disorder. If you do already have a panic disorder it isn’t too late to seek help and overcome your disorder.
Life should be happy and not filled with fear so take action and seek help today.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OVERCOMING PANIC ATTACKS FOR GOOD
