Northwest Family Advocates

Anxiety attacks can be defined as an abnormal and irrational panic over trivial things or accidents or for no reason at all. Attacks usually occur without warning and a person can simply burst into fear. Triggers can cause an anxiety attack – like getting stuck in the elevator or being called to recite in the class – but in other cases, attacks come out of the blue. An anxiety attack is a disproportionate reaction to the situation or the problem at hand, leaving the person excessively fearful, or sometimes incapacitated, which affects life, relationships, happiness and peace of mind.

Living with anxiety disorders is one of the most strenuous experiences a person can have, spending days in excessive worry with no peace of mind. Negative thoughts constantly invade the sufferers’ mind, combined with feelings of increasing dread for reasons they often can’t clearly define.

Symptoms of Anxiety Attack

A person undergoing an anxiety attack can exhibit the following symptoms:

• Heart palpitation (increase in heartbeat)
• Hot flashes or chills
• Hyperventilation
• Surge of overwhelming panic
• Feeling detached or unreal
• Trembling or shaking
• Trouble breathing
• Feeling of losing control, going crazy; or fear of dying Choking sensation Nausea or stomach cramps
• Sweating
• Dizziness
• Chest discomfort or pain

Anxiety attacks usually peak within 10 minutes and rarely last for more than a half an hour. But during this time, a person can totally lose control of himself and show symptoms mentioned above.

Counseling is a very important anxiety treatment. This targets the psychological and/emotional aspects of anxiety. Prescription anti-depressant medicines and therapy, when combined and used together, are very effective in reducing or eliminating completely anxiety attacks. Medical studies show that the response rate of patients is much higher if both methods are used compared to those that are treated using either method alone.