Most people don’t realize that panic attacks can take place while a person is sleeping. Called nocturnal panic attacks, these occur less than daytime attacks. Symptoms of anxiety attack that occur at night are usually associated with respiratory problems. People suffering from an anxiety attack while sleeping will wake up suddenly feeling very frightened. This will last for a very short time, usually not more than 10 minutes.
Studies have shown that people who suffer from depression and other psychiatric disorder are more prone to nocturnal anxiety attacks than those who don’t. They have also found that men and women suffer different symptoms. Women tend to experience respiratory symptoms compared to men. Only a doctor can diagnose the presence of this abnormality. For first timers, it is always a wise decision to consult the doctor. Others who have gone through the experience before will need only to wait a few minutes until the feeling passes and the symptoms subside.
TheGoodLife Panic Attack cause of anxiety attack
A raging heartbeat, difficulty breathing, paralyzing terror, shaking, stress, and more are just some of the symptoms of a panic attack. Some people experience these and find themselves helpless until the sensation goes away. If you are one of them, remember that although the feelings and symptoms can be frightening, they are not dangerous or harmful.
Learn how to control panic attacks by keeping the following in mind when they occur:
- Do not add to your panic by thinking about the “What ifs”. Instead, tell yourself, “So what!” Stop adding frightening thoughts to your fear.
- Stay in the present by noticing what is really happening to you as opposed to thinking about what might happen next.
- Mark your stress level from zero to ten and observe it go up and down. You’ll notice that it will not stay at a very high level for more than a few seconds.
TheGoodLife Panic Attack control panic attacks, treatment for panic attacks
Like most kids and teenagers, I seemed to be unafraid of anything. I was very and outgoing as a child. I went skateboarding on ramps, climbed trees, swayed from trees and even jumped in the deep end of a pool even when I did not know how to swim. This is why I cannot figure out why now at 39, I am claustrophobic and fiercely afraid of heights. There have been a couple of times when I went into a panic attack after being trapped in a stuck elevator. I have tried reading books on controlling panic attacks too so I would know what to do in case I find myself trapped Ferris wheel!
Getting trapped in a broken Ferris wheel or rollercoaster can easily send me into a panic attack. I have tried controlling panic attacks in the past. I had friends with me who would hold my hand talk me into not panicking. I tried breathing exercises too. I tried this exercise when I suffered from heartburn while I was in the subway in New York. I panicked because I foolishly thought I was suffering from a heart attack. Being underground did nothing to help the situation. I immediately got off at the next station and I was able to calm myself once I had gone up the ground level.
TheGoodLife Panic Attack panic attacks, stop panic attacks
It is fortunate that there are medications that help prevent anxiety attacks. Antidepressants were the early medication used in preventing anxiety attacks. Later it was found that SSRI’s have been proven to be safer and better tolerated. Examples of such medications include sertraline (Zoloft) and paroxetine (Paxil) from the SSRI group and clonazepam (Klonopin) from the benzodiazepine group. As these are potent medication, the person being treated should be closely monitored for the possibility of side effects that can vary from minor to severe and in some cases even be life-threatening.
The patient can also try to prevent attacks by managing his personal level of stress. Try to incorporate relaxation techniques such as yoga, muscle relaxation and other forms of relaxation in the daily schedule. Exercises such as swimming, cycling and walking can also be useful. Food and beverages that induce attacks should be avoided. One of the factors that trigger a panic attack is an imbalance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood. Learning the proper breathing technique will help in preventing anxiety attacks.
TheGoodLife Panic Attack
I’m a triathlete. I love the sport. What I don’t love is swimming open water. Imagine swimming open water with 1,000 people swimming with you. It’s scary. People are grabbing you, swimming on top of you and elbowing and kicking you. It’s enough to cause a panic attack. Throughout the years, I’ve learn some tips for panic attacks that worked for me.
Swimming open water is scary enough let alone swimming with a thousand people. Anything can happen when you swim. Our sport has its share of deaths. Drowning is one of the scariest things that can happen to someone. When you start to swim, scary thoughts hound your thinking. You can actually feel fear creep in from the pits of your stomach going up to your throat. If you don’t stop your panic attack, you’ll have hard time breathing and you’ll drown. Some tips for panic attacks during the swim phase is to concentrate on your stroke, think positive thoughts and concentrate on taking one stroke at a time.
TheGoodLife Panic Attack
One of the worse feelings you can ever feel is fear. Some say fear is the opposite of love. When you allow fear to creep in, you are incapacitated. Your judgment is flawed and the decisions you make are usually wrong. A lot of people ask, “What does an anxiety attack feel like?”
When a panic attack happens, you feel an overwhelming sense of fear. Your whole body will react in kind. You can’t breathe and you feel a sense of hopelessness. More often you want to die. Also, when it happens, you’ll know. You’ll be so caught up with the attack that nothing else will seem to matter. Be careful what you wish for. You don’t want to ask the question, “What does an anxiety attack feel like? Knock on wood. It might just happen to you.
TheGoodLife Panic Attack
The difficulty in dealing with anxiety attacks is that it is not clear what causes it. There are many factors that are claimed to be causes of anxiety attacks. The major cause is obviously an imbalance of emotions. This in turn can be caused by depression, drug and alcohol abuse, illness or side effects of medications. Sometimes, it is caused by a combination of some or all of these factors.
While these factors trigger an attack, the condition is sometimes inherited. A person who is pre-disposed to have anxiety attacks because of inherited genes can go into panic for very minor reasons such as having a bad conversation with someone, or learning about an unpleasant occurrence. The threshold for being able to weather negative happenings is understandably low for people suffering from this condition.
TheGoodLife Panic Attack