Realities For People Living With Anxiety Disorder

Panic Attacks

Panic attacks don't happen to everyone with an anxiety disorder, but they are fairly common. If someone is diagnosed with panic disorder, this means their anxiety most often takes the form of panic attacks. Panic attacks can be very scary, especially when individuals don't understand what's happening. Some patients have panic attacks when exposed to their fears or situations that cause anxiety. In others, the panic seems to come out of nowhere. Many of the symptoms of a panic attack mimic those of a heart attack. Individuals will feel a sudden and overwhelming surge of discomfort or fear. This is accompanied by tightness in the chest, a racing heart, and shortness of breath. Panic attacks reach their peak in just a few minutes and don't tend to last longer than ten minutes. Longer and milder attacks are called anxiety attacks.