What Is A Panic Attack?

For no apparent reason a sudden episode of intense fear or apprehension grips you and
triggers very real physical reactions.
Panic attacks can be very scary and confusing.
An attack may make you might think you're losing control, having a heart attack or even dying.
This is a panic attack.


If you have had or are having the following symptoms...

Panic Attack Disorder

What is "panic disorder"?
Panic disorder is a recurrent and persistent occurrence of panic attacks that's accompanied by the worry or fear that you're going to have another panic attack in the future. Panic disorder creates a lot of anxiety and can set up a whole host of avoidance behavior patterns as you struggle to figure out ways to prevent panic attacks from happening.


What is a "panic attack"?
A panic attack develops unexpectedly and peaks over the course of approximately ten minutes. The symptoms of panic attacks can be broken into physical symptoms and cognitive symptoms. The physical symptoms can include cardiac symptoms such as palpitations, increased heart rate; you can have shortness of breath and symptoms of choking. There can be abdominal discomfort or nausea and some people experience flushing or dizziness. The cognitive symptoms include the fear of losing control, that you're going out of your mind. If you're having a lot of those cardiac symptoms you might actually fear that you're dying, that you're having a heart attack. Sometimes this results in going to the emergency room and in some cases people experience periods of derealization, where they feel disconnected from their surroundings.

The fear of a Panic Attack

CBT pioneer Barry McDonagh, creator of Panic Away,  talks about how to end panic attacks and general anxiety.

Anxiety and Panic Attack Cycle

How to stop the panic cycle

The same nervous thoughts play over and over again in your head.
Like a scratched record it keeps repeating.
In this case though, it's not some nice piece of music that repeats, it's an unpleasant, anxious thought, you'd rather not dwell on.

Ad nauseum this panic and anxiety cycle goes round and round.

It can be a myriad of things in daily life that can fire off the anxious thought that starts this cycle.
Now you noticed your discomfort and this only adds to the power of the cycle.
It feeds upon itself..
The panic cycle can go on for minutes, hours, even days.