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What are the symptoms of a panic attack?

There are a range of symptoms of panic attacks and they differ from person to person. However some of the most common symptoms include:

Physical Symptoms

·        heart palpitations or tachycardia

·        breathlessness or a choking feeling

·        a tight chest

·        vertigo or dizziness

·        light-headed feelings

·        trembling or shaking

·        nausea

·        blurred vision

·        hot or cold flushes

·        sweaty palms

·        fear anxiety panic

·        overpowering urge to flee

·        difficulty concentrating

·        tingling or numbness in the fingers, face or toes

·        weakness in the legs

Cognitive (Thought) Symptoms

·        a fear of dying

·        a fear of passing out or fainting

·        a fear of going “crazy”

·        a fear of making a fool of yourself during an attack

·        a fear of suffocation

Behavioural Symptoms

·        Fleeing the situation where the panic attack occurs

·        Avoiding situations which may trigger a panic attack

What causes a panic attack?

Many anxiety disorders can lead to panic attacks including: Social Phobia, Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD), Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Phobias and several other conditions. However many people have these conditions without any panic attacks.

Many people with panic attacks are suffering from Panic Disorder. Panic Disorder is where people experience panic attacks “out of the blue” often with no external trigger. It is the unexpected nature of these attacks that make them so frightening. They often live in almost constant anticipation (conscious or unconscious) of further attacks.

Many things can trigger the first panic attack, such as a health problem, a stressful event, or a bad reaction to some medication. However after a person has had one panic attack they remain apprehensive about having further attacks. Their fear of having further attacks is often what actually triggers attacks, becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. For this reason Panic Disorder is often described as “a fear of fear”. In other words it is a fear of having an attack which is the main anxiety problem, unlike phobias which involve a fear of a specific object or situation.

Some people with Panic Disorder develop Agoraphobia, which means that they become anxious about going out into situations such as crowded, open or public places, for fear that they might experience panic symptoms there.