At some point in their lives, approximately 3 million Americans will suffer from panic attacks. Interestingly, the most popular age at which a person may experience their first attack is between the ages of 15 and 19.
When someone is suffering from a panic attack, they are feeling extreme anxiety about something. The onset of it is sudden and the symptoms of a panic attack are immense. Some sufferers believe that they are having a heart attack or that the feelings they are experience will lead to a heart attack. They also might be thinking that they are dying. While people do not typically die from panic attacks, the symptoms are intense.
Symptoms can appear suddenly and without any noticeable reason. Its symptoms can be felt within the body as it reacts to an uncontrollable fear like pounding or racing heart, chest pains or difficulty breathing, stomach upset or nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness, tingling or numbness in the hands, hot flashes or chills. A major symptom is the fear of having other attacks.
Each time they are in the same or a similar situation where an attack has occurred previously, the fear is that they will experience another attack. They can then develop phobias relating to the person, place or situation.
The symptoms can also be felt within the mind by experiencing a dreamlike sensation, the feeling of terror, a need to escape, the fear of losing control or doing something embarrassing or the fear of dying.
Of course everyone is different and the cause of an attack for one person will have absolutely no effect on another. But the one thing that is agreed by professionals is that in all cases, an attack is triggered by an uncontrollable fear.
Judi Symons is an experienced anxiety and panic attacks consultant. For more great information on panic attacks, visit http://www.panicattackssanswers.com
