In this stressful life with busy schedules, anxiety attacks and panic attacks have become common issues. Even though there are some similarities in both of the conditions in the symptoms, they are not the same. If you feel that you are going through a stressful situation or something affecting mental health, know more about panic attacks and anxiety attacks to get treated early.
What are Panic Attacks?
Panic attacks are a frightening experience where you get drowned in intense fear when nothing danger is there in real. You feel like completely losing your control or facing death, mostly for the people the panic attacks series gets over after one or two in a lifetime. But it is seen that in some people, they fear another attack or have recurrent attacks unexpectedly, then it is pointing to a condition known as panic disorder. The panic attacks are unexpected that can happen to you at any place, whether you are in a mall, driving, sleeping, or doing any other things. It is always better to get immediate medical help if you are having panic attacks, as it is not dangerous in the initial stages. The person cannot control this condition as they may not understand the right things for them, so panic attacks to worsen without treatment.
Symptoms of Panic Attacks
The act shows a sudden attack, which you won’t be thinking of in your wildest dreams, but this can occur to anyone.
- The main symptom of having a panic attack is fear when there is nothing danger you experience.
- The person will have the feeling that they are losing control or die soon.
- As a result of the fear, the heart rate increases rapidly, also they start trembling or shaking due to the health situation.
- Sweating, headache, nausea, and chest pain are everyday things experienced when a person gets panic attacks.
- The person feels dizzy, hard to breathe, and chills frequently. They have a feeling of unreality; it can get into worse situations as they have negative thoughts.
After experiencing one panic attack, most people may expect another one will affect them; this arises the fear that is not good for their health.
What are Anxiety Attacks?
Typical to notice in people due to stress creating matters keeps them worried and expects something terrible. It is usual for them to develop when a person is anxious. It can be triggered often by your personal life or workplace tensions. It is a less severe condition but can have some physical symptoms you should be aware.
Symptoms of anxiety attacks
You may feel the symptoms both physically and mentally when you get into this condition,
- The person who experiences an anxiety attack will face insomnia problems and feel restlessness because of random thoughts.
- They may start worrying and get apprehended even for the smaller things happening in your life.
- You may start being in a pressurized situation in most cases, even when being stressed is not needed; also, you tend to hurry to complete things.
- If you see or hear something that may not matter to you, you get irritated due to your anxiety issues.
- People who have anxiety attacks won’t focus on one thing as their minds will have numerous stressful thoughts; this may even affect your work life.
- You can observe the main physical changes: the tendency to sweat or mouth-drying when you have this condition.
- You may even feel that you will faint or tremble immediately; difficulty breathing is typically another symptom commonly seen.
- The person’s heart rate changes, and the stress condition gives them neck or head pain and nausea.
Not every person needs to have to experience all of these symptoms; it can vary in individuals, the trigger they had, the anxiety be of the intensities from low, moderate, or severe.
Dissimilarities between Anxiety Attacks and Panic Attacks
- There is some similar nature in both conditions that affect a person’s mental health. The anxiety attack experience makes the person fearful; it is caused mainly due to the stress and tensions in your life. This condition’s duration is lesser, but you will be feeling shortness of breath or heart racing.
- Anything in your life, maybe your exam, problems at the workplace, health conditions, or family problems, can act as a trigger to your anxiety attacks. It is not a diagnosable condition, but you can get out of this situation when the stressing factor is over.
- Panic attacks are something that cannot predict, and it is unprovoked. A severe mental condition that goes mostly out of control where the person is experiencing exhibits fear or terror.
- There is no need for any unique trigger for panic attacks; it is a diagnosable health issue. The person may think that they will have a heart attack or even feel that they will die.
- The symptoms like dizziness, chest pain, nausea, or shortness of breath, even they think that another panic attack will follow after one is over. People who have faced panic attacks start avoiding that place in fear, but this is a treatable condition.
- The duration of panic attacks can last for a few minutes to an hour, depending on the situation, but the effect it causes lasts for more time.
- Both panic and anxiety attacks have symptoms like chest pain, hard to breathe, negative thoughts, but the panic attack goes to the extreme that makes the person fear death.
- People who have panic attacks will mainly require medical help, as it is severe than anxiety attacks, which can be avoided with the ending of stress factors.
- The panic attacks are unavoidable as it occurs at any time, even when you are sleeping or in a calm condition. But the anxiety attacks are avoidable through proper control and by reducing the triggering factors in your life or keeping yourself in serenity.
- The duration of the anxiety attacks depends on the stress situation; it can continue after being developed. When the panic attacks start in a person, it tends to be at the peak after a short time, it may settle down after some time, but in some cases, the attack remains for a longer time.
Wrapping up Thoughts
Anyone can get affected by situations like anxiety attacks or panic attacks; it is usual. But the way you handle the situation matters all the time; contact your support from others to come back to the right track in life. Anxiety attacks usually due to the triggers like stress are manageable when the factors leading to the situation are no longer there.
But for the people having panic attacks, it is a situation that comes unexpectedly to anyone at any place. You will require immediate medical help for treatment, but your reluctance to consult a doctor will lead to some other dangerous issues for you. Understand yourself, get into some physical activities, make sure that you take treatment at the proper time without worsening the situation.
