Did I just have an anxiety attack?
Last week I was in a car accident. Nothing really bad happened but someone cut me off and I slid into a snow bank. After this I have had numerous occasions in which I suspect I may have had an anxiety attack. I’ve looked up symptoms but I usually only have like?? One?? Like I was just driving and someone almost drove in front of me and I just couldn’t breath and my throat got kinda like tight? and I started crying and I had to pull over. Is this just me over reacting? I’d really like to know if I should talk to someone about it
What is an anxiety attack?
Panic attacks(also called anxiety attacks) are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset[1] and of relatively brief duration. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, reach a peak within 10 minutes, and subside over the next several hours. Often those afflicted will experience significant anticipatory anxiety and limited symptom attacks in between attacks, in situations where attacks have previously occurred. The effects of a panic attack vary. Some, notably first-time sufferers, may call for emergency services. Many who experience a panic attack, mostly for the first time, fear they are having a heart attack or a nervous breakdown.[2] Experiencing a panic attack has been said to be one of the most intensely frightening, upsetting and uncomfortable experiences of a person's life and may take days to initially recover from.[3] Repeated panic attacks are considered a syndrome of panic disorder. [4] Screening tools like Panic Disorder Severity Scale can be used to detect possible cases of disorder, and suggest the need for a formal diagnostic assessment. (cont. here) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anxiety_attack
Is this an anxiety attack...?
whenever my dog barks, it's like a high pitch bark that really rings my ears, and it's just unpleasant, she usually does it at night [for attention] when I'm studing for my classes, I have this feeling like rushed over me, I scratch my head vigoursly to calm myself, I have the urge to cry, my heartrate is a mile a minute, and my fingers move around like fitgiting. I was wondering if this was an anxiety attack, or something else, no one else has this in my house when she barks, and it's only when she barks, I have two dogs, when my other dog barks, I usally don't have this outburst.
What are anxiety attacks?
Strictly speaking, the phrase "anxiety attack" is not used in the general psychiatric parlance. Instead, "panic attack" is used. A panic attack is a relatively brief period of very intense fear, typically characterized by some/all of the following: accelerated heart rate, dryheaving, sweating, trembling, shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea, dizziness, fear of losing control, sense of impending death, derealization, etc. Panic attacks are thought to be related to the body's sympathetic response (aka fight-flight response). What begins as physiological hyperarousal may be catastrophically misinterpreted by the individual, which escalates the autonomic response, which leads to increased worry, ad infinitum. Fear is an aversive emotional response to something perceived to be immediately dangerous or threatening. It is concentrated on one situation, object, or person, but is less intense than a full-on panic attack. One definition for fear is "an alarm response to present or imminent danger (real or perceived)." Phobia is a term used to describe disproportionate, often irrational fear to something; the person goes to great lengths to avoid encountering this or else endures the experience with marked discomfort. The term anxiety is less intense still, and typically reserved for more generalized dysphoria, nervousness, and apprehension. Anxiety has been defined as "a future-oriented mood state associated with preparation for possible, upcoming negative events." The following quote helps to delineate fear from anxiety:"This view of human fear and anxiety is comparable to the animal predatory imminence continuum. That is, anxiety corresponds to an animal’s state during a potential predatory attack and fear corresponds to an animal’s state during predator contact or imminent contact." [1]As of the DSM-IV-TR, all of the following disorders exist under the Anxiety Disorders umbrella:Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)Panic Disorder (PD)AgorophobiaSpecific phobiaSocial phobiaObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)Acute stress disorderFear or anxiety become a disorder when the response becomes pathological -- that is, causing significant impairment or marked distress.Sources:[1] http://www.dsm5.org/Research/Doc...
Could this a panic-anxiety attack?
My heart started pounding fast, I was feeling sweaty and sick to my stomach. It stopped but I started to cry and my back hurts and my neck began to feel tight. My hands started to tingling and now one of them is. My chest was feeling a little tight. I still feel sick to my stomach but not bad. I just don’t understand why this would be happening. I don’t have reasons for it, I am a nervous person and always anxious about something.. I feel like I’m going crazy. It happened twice.
Whats a anxiety attack?
I could write a book on this. It is usually triggered by stress or being too tired although it can come on for no reason at all. What happens to the body is different for different people. The pulse rate increases, you may sweat, feel dizzy, have blurred vision, feel like you can't swallow, have palpitations, feel sick at your stomach, have real pain. In most people it is a chemical imbalance and can be controlled by antidepressant drugs.
Can an anxiety attack kill you?
The answer is NO. Anxiety attacks might seem and feel dangerous, but they definitely cannot kill you. The physical reactions that are caused in the body when you are anxious is all because of ADRENALINE. If you know, our body has two systems when it comes to facing a dangerous situation, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. So, when we are anxious or when we face a dangerous or a life-threatening situation, our sympathetic system is activated which causes all sorts of weird sensations such as racing heart, shortness of breath, numbness in various parts of the body etc. To counter the effect of this, the parasympathetic system is designed which is responsible to bring our body back to its normal state. But, in the case of Generalized Anxiety Disorder or Panic Disorder, the sympathetic system is sort of overused because our brain thinks that we are in danger all the time and over time we think that something is wrong with our body and hence, the symptoms continue to persist and we think that we can die because of this. So, this is the whole science behind anxiety and its attacks. And once again, please remember that AN ANXIETY OR A PANIC ATTACK CAN NEVER KILL YOU AS IT IS JUST AN EMERGENCY RESPONSE FROM YOUR BRAIN WHICH IS ACTIVATED WHEN YOU ARE IN DANGER.If you (or someone you love) is struggling with panic attacks then I probably don’t need to tell you how horrible they can be. Let’s be honest, horrible is putting it lightly.Maybe everyone experiences it a little differently but when I was asked to describe what my first one felt like I could only think of one reply: death.I’m no ta fan of the medication options. They didn’t work for me and the side effects were worse than any upside I saw. Obviously, the snake oil and homoeopathy snake oil isn’t any better.Then there’s the DARE technique book. While I wouldn’t normally point anyone towards a self-help book this one really did improve my life. You can see my experiences with it (and how to download the whole audiobook free) Dare: The New Way to End Anxiety and Stop Panic Attacks Fast (Complete Audiobook Free)
What should I do when my girlfriend has an anxiety attack?
Don’t freak out. When she starts having one, acknowledge it immediately. Don’t sit there in silence and let her freak out, because that’s just not cool. Sometimes when I have an anxiety attack, I don’t know why it’s happening at first. It just happens. Try not to start grilling her with questions about it right away.When I have an anxiety attack, what works best for me is when someone just sits there with me. For example, one time I had an anxiety attack in class. Now, any high schooler knows that you can’t really leave class unless you have to go to the bathroom or are bleeding, and I wasn’t about to open my mouth and ask to go to the bathroom. My friend was sitting next to me, and he noticed almost instantly what was going on. He acknowledged it by putting one of his hands on my thigh, just resting it there, letting me know that he knew what was going on.When your girlfriend has an anxiety attack, don’t leave her, no matter what. The worst possible thing you can do is walk away and leave her there panicking. Stay there with her until it is over.I don’t know who your girlfriend is, or how her personality works, but as you help her with anxiety attacks you will slowly be able to learn to know what she needs. For example, I have one friend who needs to be held there. Just hugged tightly until it goes away. I have another friend that needs to be brought to a quieter place, and another who just wants to rest his head on someone's shoulder and feel their breathing so that they can steady themselves.There are all sorts of things that people are told to do for anxiety like distract themselves or move around or ground themselves, but everyone is going to be different. For some people, moving is the worst possible thing that you can make them do. So is forcing them to answer questions. Let them go slow, help them breathe easier.When their breathing starts to slow down, start asking her simple questions to help distract her. What is her name, where does she live, what is your name, what’s her favorite food, what’s her last name, etc. Simple things that she doesn’t have to think very much to answer, but will help her ground herself and distract from the panic.When she’s calmer, ask her why she thinks it happened, if she can tell you. Try and find out what caused it, so that you can help keep it from happening in the future.Good luck!