What Are The Symptoms Of A Panic Attack?

By Greg Anderson

The symptoms that indicate a panic attack is taking place can differ by person and most of the time there are more symptoms than just panic. Feelings of being scared, alone, and in severe pain also come along with panic attacks for many who suffer from them this debilitating illness.

Some people who suffer from panic attacks have several of the following symptoms but not others, and it's not uncommon to experience additional symptoms over time since panic attacks worsen if not treated.

The DSM IV, the manual of the American Psychiatric Association, states that panic attacks will commonly start with a time of extreme fear, which is then accompanied by a minimum of four of the symptoms that are listed below. All five symptoms must be present during this time.

If a panic attack is to be diagnosed as a medical panic attack, the symptoms have to reach their high point within a period ten minutes. Each of five symptoms must be shown during this period.

Other Panic Attack Symptoms

Some of the symptoms that define a panic attack are: Heart Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate, Sweating, chills, or hot flashes, feeling of smothering or being unable to breathe, sensation of choking, chest pain or discomfort, feelings of nausea, abdominal distress, feelings of faintness, dizziness, or being lightheaded, fear of losing control, fear of going insane, fear of dying, and numbness or tingling in the body.

Since the symptoms of a panic attack can frequently be completely overwhelming, these attacks can cause sufferers to be completely incapacitated at times. While treatment of panic attacks is very important, prevention of future attacks is also key.

It is completely possible to eliminate panic attacks from your life completely, even if you have had them for years. A program like Panic Away bases its techniques in the psychology of the human brain. A program like this, which gets to the root of the problem, will have a much higher rate of success than other methods of treatment. - 31521

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