MENTAL HEALTH: Panic Attacks.

by - 05:54

So, this blog post has been long awaited. I feel now is the right time to do is as I've been awake for most the night having on and off panic attacks. I'm just going to explain what is a panic attack, what are the symptoms of a panic attack, how to recognise if someone is having a panic attack and how to cope when having a panic attack yourself.

What is a panic attack?

 Official definition: Panic Attack - A sudden overwhelming feeling of acute and disabling anxiety.
A panic attack is caused when our body reaches the highest level of anxiety it possibly can. You have a panic attack when your body goes into fight or flight mode (your body goes into this state when it feels you're in a particularly dangerous situation.) When the body goes into fight or flight mode it lets off a huge rush of adrenaline in your body, this is the start of a panic attack.

Symptoms of a panic attack / how to recognise if someone is having a panic attack:

 I have panic attacks on an almost daily basis and it's one of the most awful things I've ever experienced physically and psychologically. But don't worry, you won't die. I say this because one of the most awful psychological symptoms of a panic attack is feeling like you're having a heart attack or that you're going to die (sounds silly but even though I know I'm not going to die because of a panic attack, I still think about it). The reason why you're not going to have a heart attack or die mid-attack is because there's just so much adrenaline going round your body, your brain won't have time to shut down all of your organs as it's trying to focus on all of the other physical symptoms that's going on at the same time.
Physical symptoms include:

  • Heart palpitations / irregular heart beats.
  • Sweating.
  • Trembling.
  • Hyperventilation (which leads to lack of oxygen in your body.)
  • Dizziness.
  • Nausea (which can sometimes lead to vomiting.)
  • Feeling faint (this usually comes when your panic attack is coming to an end as your body is just so exhausted.)
  • Choking sensation.
  • Numbness / pins and needles (most common in fingertips.)
  • Needing to go to the toilet.
  • Shaking.
Psychological symptoms include:
  • A feeling that you are losing control and are going to die.
  • Your surroundings seem completely unfamiliar.
  • Needing to escape from whatever situation you're currently in at the time.
For it to class a panic attack, you will usually have 4 or more of the physical symptoms and 1 of the psychological symptoms. Panic attacks will only last 5-20 minutes but can happen more than once if you're in a constant state of high anxiety.
If you see someone in the street with any of these symptoms, don't straight away assume 'OH GOD THEY'RE HAVING A HEART ATTACK CALL AN AMBULANCE'. Try not to ask them questions as they will find it extremely hard to speak whilst in that current state. First try and calm them down and help them with steadying their breathing. Once they're breathing steadily, the other symptoms will sort themselves out. If after 10-20 minutes their breathing is nowhere near steady, that's when you should  worry and should call for further medical advice.

Trying to prevent a panic attack / coping mid-attack:

I can only speak from experience here, if I have a panic attack that just comes from nowhere and I have no physical warning beforehand, there's no way I can stop it from happening so I have no options for helping you prevent a panic attack in that situation. What I can help you with however, is if you are in a high state of anxiety and you feel like you're about to have a panic attack, KEEP BREATHING. Don't allow your anxiety to take over your breathing, keep your breathing at a steady pace before the panic attack starts, hey, sometimes it stops the panic attack from happening all together (on the rare occasion.) If you let your anxiety take over your breathing, you're likely to become very distressed and that can often make the attack much worse. My dad has recently been keeping paper bags from the chemist that medication comes in so that when I have a panic attack at home, I have a paper bag to breathe into to help steady my breathing, it's sort of helpful I suppose. In extreme cases you can request an oxygen mask from your doctor, I hate the idea of carrying an oxygen mask everywhere with me though, I'd feel so self-conscious whacking out an oxygen mask in a public place, haha, but that's just my opinion.

I really hope this has helped at least one person, that's all I was aiming for with regards to writing this blog post. 

Thanks,
Rachel. xo
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