What Are Panic Attacks?

What are Panic Attacks?

What are panic attacks doing to me?

Imagine yourself driving down the highway and all of a sudden you feel shortness of breath and heart palpitations. You roll down the windows thinking, “Maybe I need some fresh air.” You start to feel light-headed and dizzy, and you think, “Uh-oh, this is it. I’m dying!”

Episodes like the one just described happen to about 2% of the American population every year, and women are twice as likely to have panic attacks than men.

Panic attacks are different from other forms of anxiety in that they appear as sudden episodes where the person feels like their world is coming to an end, and they usually last just a few minutes.

There are some panic attack sufferers who have the ability to identify and “ride out” panic attacks because they’ve already experienced a few of them, and they’ve conditioned themselves to get through the episodes while feeling only slight symptoms.

First time panic attack sufferers usually resort to calling 911 for fear that they are dying, only to calm down minutes after emergency responders arrive and treat them. When informed by emergency personnel what they believe their condition is, these panic attack sufferers usually respond with the question. “What are panic attacks?”

The first step to being able rid yourself of panic attacks is knowing what they are, the cause of panic attacks, and learning how to recognize them as they begin to develop.

Panic attacks causes are not exactly clear, but they have been attributed to the fact that it runs in families, it may be occurring due to severe stress, because of medical conditions, certain physical problems, and as a result of taking medications.

If you think you have experienced a panic attack it would be wise to consult with a physicianto rule out any other of the multitude of conditions such as mitral valve prolapse (minor heart valve problem) or hyperthyroidism (overactive tissue within the thyroid gland).

So, in summary, what are panic attacks? Panic attacks are nervous system responses occurring without warning, which result in the person experiencing intense fear accompanied by many symptoms including shortness of breath, dizziness, tingling or numbness in hands, and heart palpitations, while lasting several minutes. Panic attacks causes great difficulty in a person’s life if it is recurrent and goes untreated.

                               See  Panic Attacks Information -Symptoms >>>