About 5% of the nation's population, at one time or another, experience a panic attack. As the term implies, people who have this disorder feels paralyzing terror when they are having an attack. This commonly afflicts teenagers as they are prone to stressful situations and they do not have sufficient knowledge on how they should handle stress. However, it can also happen to adult men and women. The attack can happen without a warning, even if the sufferer is not triggered. It can disable a person for some minutes. Fortunately, the body can only hold fight-or-flight fear for some minutes that is why normally, medical attention is not needed.
However, there are symptoms, both physical and psychological, that may require immediate attention from a doctor. The symptoms can develop and cease unexpectedly. The sufferer can experience four or more of the warning signs listed below.
• Fear of dying -when a person experiences a panic attack, he might fear that he would die or be insane. Most of the time, this fear has no connection whatsoever to the actual situation he was in before the attack occurred.
• Palpitations -the heart of the patient can pound due to the incontrollable fear that he is feeling.
• Shortness of breath -often, this will come with chest pains. Often, this leads to hyperventilation.
• Trembling and shaking - this is caused by the terror and at times, it can even come to the point where the sufferer would be almost paralyzed.
• Nausea -abdominal discomfort can also be experience. This will bring about dizziness, unsteadiness and being lightheaded. At times, the patient faints.
• Depersonalization -this is sometimes the body's defense mechanism when it is caught in incidents where they feel they cannot control the situation.
• Paresthesias -this is a condition where one would experience tingling sensations or numbness in their bodies.
• Chills or hot flashes -any of these two may also be experienced by the sufferer. The chills would only aggravate the trembling causing the shaking to be uncontrollable.
Some of the above symptoms can not occur to a patient. A panic attack has the capability to disable a person. This would prevent him from expressing to others what happens to him. There are also nocturnal panic attacks. It happens mostly during nighttime when the patient is sleeping. Individuals whose attacks occur at night tend to experience more respiratory symptoms. They would suddenly be awakened from their sleep and feel terror. Other symptoms can also be experienced. It also occurs for no more than 10 minutes. However, people who suffer from nocturnal panic attacks find it more difficult get over from the episode compared with those who undergo daytime attacks. Men and women also have different warning signs.
There are a few things that you can do to prevent experiencing panic attack. People with panic disorders can protect themselves from another episode. Below are some of the things that can help.
• Avoid food, beverages and medications that can trigger an attack. Too much intake of caffeine and alcohol are some of the culprit. Lessen the amounts of your consumption.
• Engage yourself in proper breathing exercises as it can help you relax. In fact, this is one of effective stress management techniques. Doing yoga regularly can also help you out. In addition, aerobic classes can be effective in reducing the chance of having an attack.
• Maintain a healthy outlook on life. Share your problems with someone you know and trust. A problem shared is a problem halved. This will enlighten the burden that you are feeling. Always believe that problems will come to pass and having it is normal.
• While you are having the attack, try to relax your shoulders and then the large muscle groups afterward. Then, try to slow down your breathing. This would be able to stop the attack as you get calmer. Then tell to yourself or to someone with you that you are not insane and will not die. Always keep in your mind that if you can talk, you can breathe so you wouldn't die.
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