Panic Disorder Symptoms
Have you ever felt that your heart is beating really fast? If the answer is yes, you may be suffering from panic attacks.
Symptoms of panic disorder encompass a sudden surge and overwhelming fear. Your heart pounds and you can’t breathe. You feel dizzy and sick to your stomach. You may even feel like you’re dying or going crazy. You may also feel that you are losing control and having difficulty breathing. You may also feel that you are out of your physical body and your muscles are becoming weak. Panic attacks can also make you feel like you are going crazy. The symptoms of panic disorder make you feel uneasy and helpless. Panic attacks strike out of the blue and without warning. Panic attacks are terr ing.
Panic attacks often strike when you’re away from home, but they can happen anywhere and at any time. You may have one while you’re in a store shopping, walking down the street, driving in your car, or sitting on the couch at home. The symptoms of a panic attack develop abruptly and usually reach their peak within 10 minutes. Most panic attacks end within 20 to 30 minutes and they rarely last more than an hour. Panic attacks are horrific episodes and very scary to experience.
The classic symptoms of panic disorder include lightheadedness, irregular heartbeat and feeling dizzy. You feel like you are having a heart attack. A full blown attack of panic disorder has both physical and psychological symptoms. When a panic attack strikes, most likely your heart pounds and you may feel sweaty, weak, faint, or dizzy. Your hands may tingle or feel numb, and you might feel flushed or chilled. You may have chest pain or smothering sensations, a sense of unreality, or fear of impending doom or loss of control. You may genuinely believe you’re having a heart attack or stroke, losing your mind, or on the verge of death. Attacks can occur any time, even during non-dream sleep.
A full blown panic attack shares both physical and psychological symptoms. Physical panic disorder symptoms are shortness of breath, chest pain or discomfort, nausea, trembling, hot or cold flushes and sweating, and tingling or numbing sensations throughout the body. Psychological symptoms of panic attacks include feeling spaced out or dying, of going crazy and losing control, unrealistic feeling with your body and a sense of having a heart attack. Frequently with panic attacks, you’ll find that you can’t catch your breath, or your breathing will escalate above normal levels. This can make it difficult to get the right amount of air, which can in turn cause your body to panic which only leads to a more complicated situation. Since you can’t predict when an attack will occur, people develop intense anxiety between episodes, worrying when and where the next one will strike. In between times there is a persistent, lingering worry that another attack could come any minute. Some people’s lives become greatly restricted. They avoid normal, everyday activities such as grocery shopping, driving, or in some cases even leaving the house. Basically, they avoid all situations they fear and isolate themselves because of the helplessness they experience if a panic attack occurs. Panic attacks and panic disorder symptoms are paralyzing.