Anxiety Attacks Signs and Symptoms

We all know what an attack of anxiety feels like. They are natural reactions to stress. However, if worries, fears, or anxiety attacks seem to be controlling the way you live your and are preventing you from living your life the way you normally did, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
There are many anxiety treatments and self-help strategies that can help to reduce your anxiety symptoms.

It is normal to worry and feel tense or scared when under pressure or facing a stressful situation. Anxiety is the body’s response to danger, an automatic signal when it feels threatened.
Anxiety can help you stay alert and focused, prod you to action, and motivate you to solve problems. But when anxiety is constant or overwhelming, when it interferes with relationships and activities that is when it becomes an anxiety disorder.
If you have or have had some of the following signs and symptoms, that linger, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder.
Are you constantly tense, worried? Does your anxiety interfere with your work, school, or family responsibilities? Are you overwhelmed by fears that you know are irrational, but cannot shake them? Do you avoid everyday situations or activities because they cause you to feel anxious? Are you experiencing sudden, unexpected attacks of heart-pounding panic? Do you feel like danger and disaster are likely to happen any moment?
Anxiety disorders are a group of conditions rather than a single disorder; they vary from person to person. A person may undergo intense anxiety attacks that strike without warning, while another gets panicky at the thought of driving on the expressway. Someone may be disabled with the fear of a social event, or another person may have uncontrollable, intrusive thoughts and live in a constant state of tension, worrying about anything and everything.
Regardless of the different forms, all anxiety disorders one prominent symptom: persistent or severe fear or worry in situations where most people wouldn’t feel threatened.
In addition to the primary symptoms of irrational and excessive fear and worry, other common emotional symptoms of anxiety include: feelings of apprehension or dread, feeling tense and jumpy, anticipating the worst, trouble concentrating.
Anxiety is more than just a feeling. Anxiety involves a wide range of physical symptoms. Because of the physical symptoms, people often mistake their anxiety disorder for a medical illness. Common physical symptoms are tremors, sweating, pounding heart, headaches, fatigue, and shortness of breath, a choking feeling, stomach upset or diarrhea, insomnia.
Many people with anxiety disorders also suffer from depression. The depression makes anxiety worse it is important to treat both conditions.
Anxiety attacks ¬are episodes of intense panic or fear. Anxiety attacks usually occur suddenly and without warning. Sometimes there’s a trigger but in other cases, the attacks come out of the blue.
Anxiety attacks usually climax within ten minutes, and they rarely last more than thirty minutes. The physical symptoms of anxiety attacks are so terrifying that many people believe they’re having a heart attack.
It is important to get help if you’re starting to avoid certain situations or places because you’re afraid of having a panic attack. Anxiety attacks are highly treatable.
If constant worries and fears distract you from your day-to-day activities or you’re troubled by a persistent feeling that something bad is going to happen, you may be suffering from generalized anxiety disorder. These people are chronic worrywarts who feel anxious nearly all of the time, though they may not even know why. This type of anxiety related to often shows up as physical symptoms like insomnia, stomach upset, restlessness, and fatigue
If your lifestyle is unhealthy and stressful, you’re more likely to feel anxious with or without an anxiety disorder.
If your stress levels are very high, think about how you can bring your life back into balance. There may be responsibilities you can give up, turn down, or hand over to others. If you’re feeling isolated, find someone you trust to talk to; just talking about your worries can make them seem less frightening. Worrying about all the things that could go wrong keeps you from enjoying the good things that are happening.
Practice relaxation techniques. When practiced regularly, relaxation techniques such as meditation and deep breathing can reduce anxiety symptoms and increase feelings of relaxation and emotional well-being.
Develop healthy eating habits. Start the day right with breakfast, and continue with frequent small meals throughout the day. Going too long without eating leads to low blood sugar, which can make you feel more anxious.
Reduce alcohol and nicotine. They lead to more anxiety, not less.
Exercise regularly. Exercise releases stress and are an anxiety reliever. To achieve the maximum benefit, get at least 30 minutes a day.
Get enough sleep. A lack of sleep can aggravate anxious thoughts and feelings, so try to get 7 to 9 hours of quality sleep a night
If your worries and fears have become so great that they’re causing extreme distress or disrupting your daily routine, it is important to get help from a doctor. Your doctor can check to make sure that your anxiety isn’t caused by a medical condition, such as a thyroid problem, hypoglycemia, or some other illness.
If a medical cause is ruled out, consult with a doctor experienced in treating anxiety attacks and anxiety disorders. The doctor diagnoses the cause and type of your anxiety disorder and work out a treatment plan.
Anxiety disorders respond very well to treatment. The treatment depends on the type of anxiety disorder and its severity. Most anxiety disorders are treated with behavioral therapy, medication, or a combination of the both.
Anxiety medications can be habit forming and may cause side effects. It’s important to weigh the benefits and risks so you can make the decision about whether anxiety medication is the right treatment for you.
A variety of medications, including benzodiazepines and antidepressants, are used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Medication may sometimes be used short-term to relieve severe anxiety symptoms so that other forms of therapy can be engaged in.