What is the Difference Between an Anxiety Attack and a Panic Attack?

In today’s world, many people reference panic attacks and anxiety attacks on a day to day basis. Many people believe these are common signs of stress and claim to have them regularly or say they have experienced them at some point in their life. It must be stated, that a panic attack and an anxiety attack are not the same thing and there are certain distinguishing characteristics between the two. In the psychiatric world there are distinct classifications between the two disorders and in order for you to understand what may be happening with you personally, it is important that you know the differences for yourself.

Common symptoms of an anxiety attack:

Anxiety attacks can be triggered when you are in a situation that has made you fearful or has affected you negatively. For instance, you could be thinking of a bad situation involving a supposed outcome at work, school or a social function and you will focus upon that end product until you are nervous, scared, shaking, with a racing heart and shortness of breath. An anxiety attack can last anywhere from a couple minutes to a few days and can happen once or regularly in your life.

Common symptoms of a panic attack:

A panic attack can strike without any warning or reason and many times people who have one think they are having a stroke, choking or having a heart attack. A panic attack may be accompanied by signs of nausea or fainting. Many times these attacks occur when you are worried about your health and this will cause you to want to run to the ER for medical care. A panic attack can occur for a few minutes or a few hours.

There are differences between these two different types of attacks. An anxiety attack will be triggered by an actual event in your life; you will be stressed about something that could happen to you in a situation. A panic attack will be triggered when you are worried about your health and you will be afraid that you might die. Being worried or scared about sickness is a trigger for a panic attack. Anxiety attacks typically last longer than a panic attack because you are focused on a hypothetical situation and the physical symptoms of a panic attack tend to be much more severe than that of an anxiety attack.

However, there are a variety of successful treatment options for both of these disorders. For proper diagnosis and treatment, it will be necessary for you to consult with a mental health professional.

3 Tips on How to Deal with Panic or Anxiety Attacks

To someone who suffers from panic or anxiety attacks, the event in itself is terrifying. A sufferer of this disorder can feel as if their quality of life has been compromised because they start avoiding places and people that trigger the attack. They feel as if they are out of control or are having a heart attack. In addition, panic and anxiety attacks, when left untreated can lead to more serious disorders such as depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. However, panic and anxiety attacks are treatable and these tips will help you live a normal life.

1. Exercise!

Exercise releases endorphins. When endorphins are released into your blood stream, you are less likely to have panicky feelings. Exercise will lower your stress level and help control your heart rate, allowing you to feel balanced and whole at all times.

2. Understand your symptoms.

If you suffer from panic or anxiety attacks, it is necessary that you understand the feelings or circumstances that trigger an attack. When you start to feel panicked you can send a message from your brain to your body to perform certain functions that will lessen the symptoms of the attack or keep it from happening at all. It is important to practice deep breathing exercises and focus on positive or non-threatening thoughts that will make you calm. Through these exercises, you will learn to combat an attack before it happens.

3. Interrupt your cycle of thinking and feeling.

Practice behaviors that will counteract an attack before it occurs. At the onset of panic, begin thinking about a thought that will negate the scary thought or feeling from happening. Sometimes, this is a learned behavior through sufferers of chronic anxiety and sometimes these feelings of intense fear will only be felt once or twice in a lifetime.

Therefore, it is important that you find behaviors that can stop the attack from happening at the beginning. Arm yourself with certain thoughts or seek treatment with a medical professional who can coach you through the process.

3 Types of Depression

There is no denying it; depression is a horrible and debilitating condition to anyone who suffers from this disorder. Depression can affect the quality of your life, emotionally, socially, physically and mentally. Depression can affect a person in many ways and can be brought on by a variety of issues. It is important that all sufferers of depression, no matter how mild or severe, seek professional medical help to treat the problem and to determine what type of depression you in fact, suffer from.

Depression is treatable. There is no reason for you to suffer from low self esteem or low confidence. There is no reason to hurt your health through an eating disorder, and there is definitely no reason to consider thoughts of suicide. Get help today and let a doctor consider your symptoms for proper diagnosis.

1. Clinical Depression

   This type of depression is the most frequently diagnosed by medical professionals. When a person has been diagnosed with clinical depression they are more than likely in one mood all the time and that mood is more than likely, sadness. A person with clinical depression will find it impossible to snap out of their “funk” and will be unable to control their sadness or pity for themselves. When someone suffers from clinical depression they are more than likely faced with feelings of self loathing or self pity, sometimes they will claim they hate themselves and will prefer to be sad, even if something positive has happened.

   For extreme cases of clinical depression, constant supervision is advised. A severe sufferer of clinical depression can sometime resort to hurting themselves or contemplate thoughts of suicide. Some sufferers will cut themselves or inflict other harm to their body. It is necessary for a sufferer of clinical depression to be on maintenance medication to prevent them from going to extremes and carrying out acts of self-hate.

2. Chronic Depression

   When a person suffers from chronic depression, their situation is not as severe as someone who has been diagnosed with clinical depression. Many times, chronic depression can be a by-product of mood swings or changes in the weather. A sufferer of this sort of depression will still have feelings of hopelessness, but can enter and exit out of the state. However, it is best for a sufferer of chronic depression to receive medical assistance and maintenance medication so their condition doesn’t have the chance to worsen. Sometimes, chronic depression can lapse into clinical depression if not treated properly.

3. Psychotic Depression

   This type of depression is considered the most severe by medical professionals. Someone who suffers from psychotic depression will suffer from hallucinations and possibly hear voices in their head. They are prone to wild imaginations and this can cause the sufferer to become delusional. If left untreated, sufferers of psychotic depression are prone to complete mental breakdowns.

Methods and Techniques for Coping with Social Anxiety

When a person suffers from social anxiety, there can be many symptoms and behaviors that are experienced that will eventually lead the individual from avoiding social interaction with other people. Avoiding other people or public places can lead to severe feelings of agoraphobia and other conditions that will affect the quality of your life and your mental health.

When social anxiety is suspected in a person, it is necessary to identify triggers and associations and to seek help to curb these feelings. If this is not understood, it can be very difficult to change this behavior.

Steps to take when working through social anxiety:

1. If you feel anxious in social situations, it is necessary for you to step out of denial and recognize the problem. It will be necessary for you to seek therapy with a professional. A mental health expert will be able to “retrain your brain.” This sort of therapy is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and will help your brain work through feelings of panic and anxiety.

2. Practice deep breathing exercises. Lowering and controlling your heart rate is one of the quickest ways to avoid a bout with social anxiety, you can do this through taking deep, cleansing breaths and focusing your attention inward through normal body functions instead of focusing on the individual feelings of panic.

3. Think positive thoughts. In order to control your feelings of panic, it is necessary for you to get a grip on your thoughts. Keep an index of positive, happy memories in your mind. When you start to feel panicked or anxious, pick one of those good thoughts and focus on the way you felt at that certain time. When you do this, you are allowing your focus to be on something positive and good and you will combat the negative feelings of panic and stress.

4. Prepare yourself for happy social interaction. We all know that sometimes there can be lulls in conversation or you can feel awkward standing by yourself. Prepare yourself in advance for these situations, before you go out check up on the news or browse the internet for a hot search topic on Google. When you have a variable arsenal of topics at your disposal you will feel better prepared.

How to Stop Panic Attacks

Many people suffer from panic attacks; in today’s stressful world, this condition is very common.  However, many people also believe that prescription drugs are the only treatment option.  This couldn’t be farther from the truth.  In fact, many times prescription drugs come with side effects that are worse than the symptoms you experience inside a full blown panic attack.  This is because drugs alter the natural balance of chemicals in your brain and make the problem worse.

Many people who suffer from panic attacks are chronically anxious by nature.  In order to accurately treat your disorder, you must first work on changing your behavior naturally.  To put it very blunt, you are your own problem and you are your own cure.  Do not think drugs will be the cure for you, work to combat your panic attacks in a healthy fashion and cure your own behavior.

Studies show that a panic attack always comes with a trigger.  Many panic attack sufferers may believe that an attack comes out of nowhere, but this is not true.  You may not realize it but something in your subconscious is triggering for this attack to take place.

Record your thoughts and determine what you were thinking the moment before you showed symptoms of panic.  This will help you learn to control your thoughts.

Next, when an attack is about to happen, lie down, no matter where you are.  If you can’t lie down, find somewhere comfortable to sit. This will help focus and center you.  Take a hand and place it on top of your stomach and breathe deeply and slowly.  When you breathe this way, more oxygen is being provided to your brain and your brain will register this quicker by your hand feeling the movement through your abdomen.

Then think about the muscles that are tense, systematically relax each one.  Focus on a muscle group, tense and then relax.  This will help you focus on something else than the scary thoughts or feelings of a panic attack.

Studies show that when a sufferer conditions their mind on a regular basis, panic attacks will cease from happening and you will be able to control thoughts and feelings better.