A panic attack is a brief and abrupt burst of extreme anxiety, distress, or fear. Panic attacks are accompanied by intense emotional, physical, and even behavioral symptoms.
While there is no single known cause of panic attacks, we know that the physical symptoms come from activating our body’s fight or flight response. This is the body’s natural stress response meant to protect you from danger. Except that with panic attacks, the threat or danger you perceive is not real, meaning they can occur for no apparent reason.
Still, this does not make panic attacks feel any less distressing or life-threatening. In fact, knowing that the threat isn’t real and going through this experience anyway can make one feel crazy and even more out of control.
Often the physical symptoms will cause one to feel like they are dying or having a heart attack. Some of these sensations include:
Feeling shortness of breath/difficulty breathing
Sweating or chills
Racing heart and palpitations
Feeling dizzy or light-headed
Chest pain
Tingling sensations
Feeling detached from reality or oneself
There is no specific timeline or timetable for panic attacks, as they can happen at any time and even wake you from your sleep. Between the unexpectedness and how quickly this period of intense anxiety builds, it can magnify the panic and feelings of losing control.
That said, a panic attack can be better controlled through techniques that don’t necessarily reduce the fear but loosen the grip that it has on you. One of the best things you can do during a panic attack is to play the observer of what’s happening. For instance, if you feel fear, describe it. Saying something like “I feel afraid” doesn’t mean giving into that fear; instead, giving your thoughts or sensations a name and description will help separate you from the experience until it dissipates.
Various techniques aim to help ground you so you can ride out the panic attack rather than run from it. In addition, a highly effective and first-choice treatment for panic attacks and panic disorders is psychotherapy, also called talk therapy. Talk therapy can help you understand the attacks and learn how to better cope with them.
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