Suddenly
waking up at night finding you sweaty, restless and breathless can be
scary, exhausting and frightening - a condition that experts call as
panic attack. So, what
is a panic attack? A
panic attack can actually happen to you anytime of the day. You might
find yourself feeling restless, anxious and breathless no matter what
time it is as panic attacks can happen whenever and wherever you are.
To
answer more thoroughly your question of what is a panic attack, it
is actually a symptom of anxiety disorder. If you are suffering from
any, it is most likely that you will experience a panic attack at
some point in your life as well. Panic attacks are defined by
episodes of breathlessness, gasping for air as with hyperventilation,
excessive respiration and suddenly waking up at night feeling out of
breath and restless.
Panic attacks are also defined with subsequent
episodes of fear and apprehension that usually peaks 10 minutes after
the initial attack and generally subsides the following hours.
Many
first timers often conclude and fear that they are experiencing heart
attack or a nervous breakdown. So, further details to answer what
is a panic attack are
the symptoms of panic attacks. While a heart attack and panic attacks
may have the same symptoms such as suddenly being awoken in the
middle of night and breathlessness, the similarity actually ends
there.
Panic
attack symptoms are less harmful to your body as compared to a heart
attack which can cause sudden death. Although, this is not a reason
for you to take panic attacks lightly as prolonged episodes can cause
harm to your health as well, just not as serious as sudden death that
heart attacks give.
Intense
trembling and shaking of the hands and knees are also symptoms of
panic attack. When one feels scared and frightened one of the normal
responses of the body is to shake and tremble intensively.
When you
experience this alongside the feeling of fright it might be that you
are suffering from panic attacks. Fear is the one symptom that
defined a panic attack from a heart attack as when you have a panic
attack there is intense feeling of fear and terror. You feel like you
have the need to escape something and go somewhere else that you no
fear could inflict on you. This is one serious symptom that you can
feel when you have a panic attack.
Now
that you have a further understanding of what
is a panic attack, you
might be wondering then if this is a serious illness. Generally
speaking, panic attacks are not harmful to your body although if not
treated immediately can manifest serious consequences in your life.
Especially with nocturnal panic attacks, you hardly sleep anymore
because you are always awoken even before your deepest sleep so you
hardly feel relaxed at all. Sleep is essential to every human being
as our bodies need to relax. Lack of sleep can cause you to become
less productive in your work as you barely have the energy left to
work, experience poor memory and even become irritable and
emotionally unstable. Thus, when you experience any of the symptoms,
you need to consult with your doctor immediately.
