Panic Attack Symptoms and Treatments

A panic attack is a short and quick form of intense anxiety. It causes fear or physical sensations. These sensations include shortness of breath, dizziness, trembling, racing heartbeat, and muscle tension. Panic attacks frequently occur suddenly and are not related to any external threat. However, the emotional and physical effects after the attack can last for a few hours.

Panic attacks are common, and many people experience a panic attack at some time in their lives. Frequent and prolonged panic attacks can be severely impaired without treatment. An individual may choose to avoid many situations out of fear of experiencing an attack. Many people feel terror during an attack, like something bad is going to happen, even when there is no real danger.

What are the Causes of Panic Attacks?

The causes of panic attacks are not always clear. Commonly feeling anxious about something, experiencing stress, or difficulty can cause a panic attack. These situations include:

• Anxiety due to a difficult experience at work, school, or home.
• Stress over things like relationships, friendships, job, and exams.
• Death of a loved one.
• Any terrifying experience, like abuse or mistreatment.
• A violent experience.

What are the symptoms of Panic Attacks?

Our bodies are designed to respond in certain ways to harmful and uncomfortable situations. People often feel frozen or in flight mode. During a panic attack, the body reacts in the same way, even when there is no real danger or threat. The following are common symptoms of panic attacks.

Racing Heart Rate and Breathing

People often describe their heart beating very fast during panic attacks. It might even look as though they are having a heart attack, but in reality, it’s not. That chest pain is coming from anxiety during a panic attack instead of any heart problem.

Surroundings Feel Spinning

Blood and oxygen rush to the large muscles in the legs when our body responds to stress. It leaves blood and oxygen less available to other body parts. This reaction allows you to run away from dangerous situations. That’s why, during panic attacks, you feel lightheaded or a tingling sensation in your hands.

Sweating

During a panic attack, feeling lightheaded may cause the body to sweat. You may sweat even if it isn’t hot, or feel chills even if it isn’t cold.

Nausea 

A panic attack can cause blood to flow away from our digestive system. You may feel sick or even nauseated. Often, people start vomiting during intense panic attacks. The vomiting occurs because extreme anxiety disturbs our digestion.

Exhaustion

Panic attacks usually last for at least 10 minutes. At that time, our body was flooded with the hormone cortisol. Cortisol leaves the system after a panic attack is over. This experience brings tiredness and exhaustion.

What can trigger a Panic Attack?

A panic attack can occur without any cause or trigger. In fact, panic attacks are unexpected, and no one can predict when they will occur. In some cases, panic attacks may occur due to external stressors. An individual who experiences panic disorder may take these stressors more seriously than the actual danger.

Potential panic attack triggers include:

• Social gatherings like meetings, family get-togethers, and other events.
• Individual performances, such as giving an interview or a speech.
• Some situations and activities that create anxiety, like airplanes, needles, heights, etc.
• Any physical or emotional trauma event.
• Haunted memories of previous traumatic events.

Additionally, some substances and activities can also stimulate the body in the same ways as actual stress. It can cause panic-like symptoms that can lead to a complete panic attack. For example,

• Excessive use of caffeine.
• Alcohol use or withdrawal.
• Excessive physical exercise.

What is Panic Disorder?

Recurring panic attacks can lead to panic disorder, which is a type of anxiety disorder. The most life-disrupting thing about having panic disorder is that these attacks can come at any time, and seemingly with no triggers or cause. Usually, this disorder starts in young adulthood and can worsen with stress. You need to seek help through medications and treatment to cope with panic disorder, with the suggestion of your mental health care specialists.

Panic Attack Hangover 

Panic attack hangover, also called an adrenaline hangover. Your adrenaline level spikes during a panic attack. It refers to the symptoms you experience when your adrenaline levels go back down after a panic attack. Moreover, it increases alertness and energy while improving your instincts, so your body is prepared to either fight or run. However, after the recognized threat, when your symptoms are gone, you may feel tired and even sore.

Panic Attack Hangover Symptoms

It is completely normal to feel tired after a panic attack. It can take days to recover from a panic attack for some people. When you are dealing with a panic attack, post-panic attack symptoms may include:

• Tiredness and fatigue
• Muscles soreness
• Sleepiness
• Body and muscle pain
• Soreness in the jaw
• Racing heartbeat
• Shaking hands or body
• Sweating
• Disocomfort
• Chest pain
• Dizziness
• Stomach pain or nausea

When physical symptoms of a panic attack leave after 20 minutes, but others still linger for a while. You may continue to feel fearful or feel nauseated. Moreover, you may experience body pain after a panic attack, which is due to physical tension.

Panic Attacks in Children and Adolescents’

Often, panic attacks start during adolescence, although they can also begin in childhood. These attacks can cause severe anxiety or affect other factors of a child’s functioning and mood. Some children start avoiding situations they fear can cause a panic attack. Adolescents might start using drugs or alcohol to avoid anxiety. If panic attacks are not recognized and treated on time, they cause complications in the future for children, like extreme depression and suicidal actions. Usually, children experiencing panic attacks respond well to treatment when diagnosed early.

Panic Attack Complications

If panic attacks and panic disorder are left untreated, they can affect every area of your life. You may live in a constant state of fear, having another panic attack, which ruins the quality of your life.

Complications linked to panic attacks include:

• You may develop specific phobias due to recurring panic attacks, such as fear of leaving home or driving.
• Physical health problems and other medical conditions.
• Social anxiety, such as avoidance of social situations and gatherings.
• Experiencing problems at school or work.
• It can lead to depression, anxiety disorders, and other psychiatric problems.
• Increased thoughts of suicide and risk of suicide.

In some people, panic disorder may include agoraphobia. They avoid places and situations that can cause anxiety because they fear having a panic attack. Moreover, they may want to depend on others to be with them when they leave home.

Panic Attacks Treatment

If you feel you are experiencing a panic attack, you need to seek evaluation from a mental health specialist. Your psychiatrists may also identify other mental conditions, which can contribute to your symptoms. The following are the most common and effective treatments for panic attacks and panic disorders.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)

This therapy is a type of psychotherapy. It teaches you to tackle your behaviour before, during, and after a panic attack. You will learn to change your thought process and behaviour that decreases the intensity of panic attacks over time.

Additionally, your psychiatrist will teach you coping techniques with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy that help you focus on the here and now rather than your negative emotions and symptoms. The following are a few helpful CBT techniques:

• Practice deep breathing to cope with panic attacks. Taking a deep breath in through your nose and out through your mouth is very effective to calm down your body.
• They redirect your focus and concentration on an object in your immediate environment or on another task in your head.

In CBT, psychiatrists use guided imagery. To make you visualize a place you find safe, peaceful, and relaxing.

Exposure Therapy

Exposure therapy is a type of CBT. It helps people to face their fears instead of avoiding them. The idea of this therapy is based on the fact that avoiding what scares us only makes the fear stronger. When psychiatrists gradually and safely expose fear to us, we learn that it is not as fearful as we thought. Exposure therapy for panic attacks involves:

• Facing situations we are fearful of.
• Experiencing physical sensations linked with panic attacks.
• Learning how to cope with anxiety without avoiding it.

How Does Exposure Therapy Work for Panic Attacks?

It helps you to confront your physical sensations and situations that trigger panic. The goal of this therapy is to help you realize that these sensations are uncomfortable but not dangerous. Here is how it works:

• Help you identify feared sensations and triggers.
• From least to most anxiety-provoking hierarchy of fears to tackle them.
• Exposure to items you fear, starting with the least scary.
• Practice staying in the situation until your anxiety decreases.

Cope with Panic Attacks at Advanced Health Preference Group

If you are struggling with panic attacks, we are here to help you with our professional team. At Advanced Health Preference Group we understand the effect of panic attacks on your everyday life. Therefore, we have mental health specialists who provide personalized treatments according to your mental health condition. Our expert team utilizes different therapies and psychiatric medication management options to help you overcome your mental condition. Moreover, we have both in-person and telehealth treatment options, so everyone can reach mental wellness. Schedule a consultation with our mental health experts to overcome your panic attacks.