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When Anxiety Attacks—It’s a Panic Attack!

By Dr. Madhusudan Singh Solanki in Mental Health And Behavioural Sciences

Oct 07 , 2021 | 2 min read

Rohit is a 21-year-old healthy, sport loving person, and he is doing well in his college, one day he came back from a party and as he was about to retire to sleep he felt some heaviness in his chest and felt a sense of suffocation, he felt uneasy and drank a glass of water, but the uneasiness kept on increasing and his heart started pounding with a vague chest pain, trembling and shaking sensation, he started sweating, and he felt as if he would lose control, probably it’s a heart attack, or he will not be able to catch the next breath, a catastrophic fear of impending doom dwelled over him, he frantically called his parents out in the other room, shocked and worried they took him to a nearby hospital emergency, in emergency a doctor saw him, they did an electrocardiogram and told them it's all fine, there was nothing wrong with his heart or body in general, till that time Rohit started feeling better and after reassurance they were sent home, and he was advised to meet a psychiatrist.

What Rohit was experiencing was actually a panic attack. A panic attack is an acute attack of intense and severe anxiety involving intense fear, apprehension or terror often with a feeling of impending doom; it builds up in a few minutes lasting usually for few minutes to 30 minutes and usually has the following symptoms:

Dyspnea or sensations of being smothered and choking sensation
Dizziness or giddiness
Loss of balance or a feeling that one will faint
Palpitations or fast and pounding heart rate
Trembling or shakiness
Sweating
Nausea or increased bowel motion tendency
Tingling or numbness kind of sensations
Hot flashes or chills
Chest discomfort or pain other aches and pains
Fear of dying or losing control or going crazy

Panic attacks can happen without warning, anytime, anywhere. A person who has had a panic attack lives in constant fear of getting another panic attack to the extent that they avoid places where they have had a panic attack and sometimes fear completely takes over their lives. Some people remain completely home bound and cannot stay alone due to the fear of getting another panic attack.

Panic attacks can happen with or without agoraphobia—which is a fear of places or situations that might cause one to panic and cause feelings of entrapment, embarrassment or helplessness

Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder and is more common in women. It usually starts in young adults and at times starts when a person is undergoing a lot of stress.

Management

Panic disorder is fairly treatable like other anxiety disorders and most people get better with treatment. Treatment involves talk therapy like cognitive behavioral therapy and medicines like SSRIs.

So if you or anyone you know has experienced a panic attack, don’t hesitate, seek help.

Meet a mental health care professional.