Panic Attacks

[tater03]

I have a quick question are panic attacks part of overall anxiety attacks? Are they really one and the same? thanks.

[lovetochat]

I thought this was two different ways to describe the same thing? When your heart starts racing and you start sweating etc?

[hurgoll]

I don't know very much about this area, other than how it feels. I take xanax for anxiety. It doesn't feel like it helps... But if I go too many days without it and then have a bad day I am quick to start taking them again.

[tater03]

I always thought that they were basically the same things also but I just wasn't sure. What you describe above is exactly what happens to me. I seem to get them more when I am stressed out more.

[riskey58]

I used to have panic attacks they are no fun. Went to the doctor and she gave medication and it really helped.

[baldmonkee]

I think a panic attack is just a quick intense onslaught of feelings that are part of having anxiety problems, I don't think you can have a panic attack if anxiety isn't an issue

[fiona]

I thought they were the same thing as it invokes the same rush, fearful feeling. I will have to look that up and find out more.

[debrajean]

I have panic attacks in large crowds. Anxiety attacks happen most often when I worry constantly about things in my life. I also get axious at the thought of meeting new people in my personal life (which is odd b/c I work in a customer service position and am constantly meeting new people...and this never bothers me).

[Taggart]

My wife used to have anxiety attacks, and if she flew on a plane, she preferred having a window seat. She found looking out the window helped her.

I think hers were triggered by confined spaces and possibly large crowds in them.

[mollyL]

I believe they are different, although similar in nature. I could be wrong on this, but I think that panic attacks are more immediate and you might have an idea of what you are panicked about; anxiety attacks take a bit more investigation to figure out what caused them. I went to the ER once not able to breathe and was finally diagnosed with an anxiety attack.

[tater03]

That happened to my Mom also when she had an anxiety attack. She thought she was actually having a heart attack.

[riskey58]

How true that is just how I felt. It is scarey, but iwas put on medication for it. and it has seemed to help.

[Green-Moo]

My take on it is that panic attacks and anxiety attacks are the same thing. Panic / anxiety attacks are a symptom of general anxiety, but not the only symptom. You can therefore be suffering from anxiety without having these attacks.

[micheal]

Panice attacks and anxiety attacks are one in the same. They are caused by the same affects. People think that these attacks are nothing more than mental disorders but just like asthma people can die from these deadly attacks.

[ozzie]

I've always thought of Panic Attacks as being more severe than Anxiety Attacks. Maybe it just sounds that way to me. In my experience, an anxiety attack is me feeling really nervous about something....butterflies. A Panic Attack for me means the heart is racing, I'm sweating and may even have chest pain. Maybe we all use the terms to mean the same things, not sure.

[Serenity]

My understanding is that anxiety attacks are more the result of a build up of a constant nagging worry coming to a head, like worrying about being made redundant. It's like you go into overload mode and it manifests physically.

A panic attack can hit you very fast and hard unexpectedly and usually coincides with a physical event. For example say you started getting chest pains and thought you were going into cardiac arrest, that could bring on a panic attack.

[debrajean]

When I told my friend that I have anxiety she suggested I go to a doctor for medication b/c anxiety leads to all kinds of other health issues. I think I'm going to have to take her advice, b/c my health is really starting to suffer.

[Green-Moo]

Originally Posted by debrajean

When I told my friend that I have anxiety she suggested I go to a doctor for medication b/c anxiety leads to all kinds of other health issues. I think I'm going to have to take her advice, b/c my health is really starting to suffer.

I think your friend is right Debrajean, you should approach a doctor and see what s/he advise. Good luck with it.

[Frank]

Sometimes in panic attacks you also get sense of depersonalization/derealization. I've had this sense just before the racing heart & full-blown panic of derealization, everything seemed strange, reality was not what it used to be. (I don't know if there's any connection but I believe that some epilectics get that sense.)
I used to get panic attacks at "random", i.e., they were not connected to immediate situation I was in. One writer uses the rainbarrel analogy. Anxiety accumulates & then it can spill over, so it's not necessarily correlated with stressfulness of present environment. Unfortunately this can lead to phobias where your environment or activity gets linked in your mind with the panic.

[lisalesa]

I am a mom of 5 daughters
4 who suffer from a combination of Depression
or GAD
0r Social Anxiety
And our youngest has such severe Anxiety it has affected her ability to eat.
She is under the care of a specialized Eating Disorders team
I also am an sufferer.
We all take meds for depression and medication to help us sleep.

With Panic Attacks, We try:
to help yourself realize that in fact...
you will be okay.
As simple as this sounds...
It is the hardest thing to learn.
You can try to use deep breathing,
Anxiety will drop as oxygen increases.
When in a Panic Attack you will tend to breath way too fast or
way to shallow.
Or barely at all.
Relaxation positions like the "Relaxation Pose" from Yoga.
If you are at work.
At least the breathing is within your control.
Learn some feedback techniques to counter act the Anxiety.
You are still here.
You can get through these and
Anxiety is like a bully.
You have to face it and stare it in the eye...
Get it to stand down!
We are all working daily to learn more to help others to cope.
I was diagnosed in 1995.