Symptoms of Anxiety vs the Cause
Panic attacks is not a diagnosis. Rather, it is a cluster of symptoms with a lot of variation. With the number of people suffering from panic attacks in the millions, it seems this problem is more commonly understood by the public. Less known is the fact that the underlying cause of panic attacks is often post traumatic stress syndrome.
If you feel you may have had panic attacks yourself but you are not really sure, read on to see if any of these symptoms of anxiety sound all too familiar.
First off, keep in mind that you may not experience all these symptoms. Everyone is different and may experience things in different ways. To be precise: a panic attack is clinically defined as the simultaneous experience of at least four of the symptoms listed below.
Panic Attacks Defined
The following are the most common symptoms of panic attacks:
- tight feeling in the chest
- increased heart rate
- hot flushed feeling
- excessive sweating or clamminess
- shortness of breath
- hyperventilating
- nausea
- muscle tension
- dizziness
- terror
- fear of impending doom
How Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome Can Be Related to Panic Attacks
Post traumatic stress syndrome often includes man of these same symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks, though not necessarily simultaneously. To use a metaphor of a burning oil well, panic attacks correspond to the intensely hot fire that seems impossible to stop. The oil giving constant fuel for the fire is often post traumatic stress syndrome. The important thing to notice is this metaphor is the panic attacks become the most dreaded source of fear, much like the flames of the oil fire become the greatest focus in the crisis of a burning oil well.
Consequently, men and women often give all their attention to finding relief from the panic attacks, instead of focusing on the underground cause of post traumatic stress syndrome. For many people, the first time they experience a panic attack they feel like they’re having a heart attack or are dying. They’re rushed to the hospital only to find that their heart is fine and the doctors can’t find anything physically wrong.
If the idea of panic attacks is not brought up, they’re left feeling that something is wrong with them and they begin to visit different medical doctors trying to determine what it is. But even if anxiety and panic attacks are explored, very few physicians or even psychologists would think to inquire about past overwhelming experiences that may have given rise to post traumatic stress syndrome.
Understanding Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome Can Help Make Sense of the Confusion
Panic attacks occur when the “fight or flight” adrenaline goes into overdrive. Your body believes that it is about to be attacked and brings forth all the responses that would go along with a seriously dangerous situation. The trouble is, the event at hand does not warrant this behavior. Yes, you know your fear is way out of proportion but you are unable to stop it. You can say to yourself, “This is silly, I’m just going to drive on this freeway for 5 miles as I’ve done many times in the past” but your body reacts anyway.
Even scarier is realizing that these panic attacks can happen at any time. Some people wake up in the middle of the night with them or have them occur when doing something as benign as watching TV.
It is commonly believed that panic attacks can be triggered by any of the following:
- anticipatory anxiety
- stress, situational or long-term
- hormones
- post traumatic stress syndrome known as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- possibly excessive sugar or caffeine
- a combination of the above
One of the most anguishing experiences is anticipating or worrying that you will have another panic attack. In fact, the anticipatory anxiety can be enough to bring on a full-blown panic attack. Added to that it seems each episode is burned into your brain and you feel if you’re in the same situation or location, you will surely have another episode. Because of this you start avoiding these situations or locations.
But avoidance behavior is not the answer. The avoidance behavior becomes a symptom of the symptoms (panic attacks). But if post traumatic stress syndrome is involved, it’s can take less effort to cap the source of the oil so that the flames of panic attacks disappear.
Sometimes receiving the diagnosis and some good information about post traumatic stress syndrome can give some immediate relief. How is this possible? One of the most disconcerting things about panic attacks is that a man or a woman feels mortal terror, but knows rationally that there are not threats around them. This is crazy-making. When a person knows that the panic attacks stem from post traumatic stress syndrome, they can now see that the panic attacks amount to a re-experiencing of a previous traumatic event (think: flashbacks).
Suddenly, the panic attacks don’t seem so crazy. While the mortal terror still doesn’t make sense in the context of the present situation, it makes perfect sense if the person is mentally, emotionally, and physically reliving a real, terrifying situation of the past. In this way, post traumatic stress syndrome can help put the puzzle pieces together so that a person can make sense of their own disturbing experiences.
If these symptoms ring true for you, seek answers in the form of more information. You don’t have to continue to suffer from panic attacks, there is treatment available. In particular, it is wise to rule out post traumatic stress syndrome as the cause of panic attacks. If post traumatic stress syndrome turns out to be the cause, the your energies can focus on removing the root cause (i.e., post traumatic stress syndrome) instead of just managing the symptoms of panic attacks.
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