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As a human being, it
is normal that we feel anxious, worried, and fears from time to time due to
the things that our complicated lives bring. Anxiety is just a part of life.
It helps us cope with the stresses we may encounter. If you are in a state
of anxiety, it is likely that you experience anxiety attack.
Anxiety attack is a
sudden surge of overwhelming fear that comes without warning and without any
apparent reason and this would usually last for no more than 10 minutes. It
is far more intense than having anxiety or the feeling of being stressed
out. One in every 75 people worldwide will experience an anxiety attack at
one point in his/her life.
Most anxiety sufferers
report fear of dying, going crazy or losing control of emotions as well as
behavior. The incidents generally provoke a strong urge to escape or run
away from the place where the attack begins, and they are associated with
chest pain or shortness of breath, and feeling of impending doom
A person with a phobia
will often experience an anxiety attack as a direct result to the hung-up
trigger. These anxiety attacks are brief and quickly relieved once the
trigger is escaped. In the conditions of chronic anxiety, one anxiety attack
can usually turn into another one, leading to a nervous fatigue over a
period of days.
An anxiety attack has
symptoms that often occur suddenly without any apparent cause. The symptoms
can be as follows”
-
Pounding
heartbeat, generally faster in nature
-
Increased
sweating
-
Dizziness,
lightheadedness, nausea
-
Difficulty
breathing
-
Tingling and/or
numbness in the face
-
Dreamlike
sensations or perceptual distortions (de-realization)
-
Disassociation,
the perception that one is not connected to the body and time.
-
Fear of losing
control and doing something embarrassing
-
Fear of dying
-
Feeling of
impending doom
-
Crying,
associated to the above symptoms
Anxiety attack usually
last for several minutes and is considered one of the most disturbing
condition that anyone can live through in everyday life. The way to
understand the different symptoms of anxiety attack is: first, comes the
sudden jolt of fear with little or no triggering motivation, and this
leads to a release of adrenaline (epinephrine), which causes the
supposed fight-or-flight response, where the person’s body prepares for
major physical activity.
This results to an increased heart rate, labored
breathing or hyperventilation, and sweating. The diaphragm, involved in the
action of the lungs, is also a muscle and it can become overly tight. When
there is continuous, inferior anxiety, a person frequently works too hard
when breathing. However, if there is hyperanxiety or an anxiety attack,
there is overwhelming excitement, and a person may hyperventilate.
Because strenuous
activity hardly ever arises, the hyperventilation leads to carbon dioxide
levels lowering in the lungs and then the blood, resulting to the shift in
the pH of the blood, which will then lead to many of the other symptoms,
such as tingling or numbness, dizziness, and lightheadedness.
Anxiety attack is a
serious condition, but before you start thinking if you have this condition
and go running to see a doctor, stop and take a deep breath! Relax before
you start having an anxiety attack, even if you actually don’t have it.
Don’t take things too hard for it may lead to something serious and may
affect your daily routine. Take things lightly.
In any case, if you think
you have this condition, the first thing you should do is see a doctor. If
you are diagnosed with anxiety attack condition, appropriate treatment and
good counseling can bring your life to normal again. Otherwise, tell
yourself to relax and continue to live your life to the fullest.
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