Anxiety Attach Symptoms

Will you recognize a panic attack if it strikes you out of the blue? Chances are you won’t know what’s happening. Palpitations and chest tightness are two of the first anxiety attack symptoms, but these two could also point to heart disease. Hyperventilation, throat dryness, shortness of breath, accelerated sweating as well as a feeling of suffocation often accompany the pounding of the heart. Some people also experience dizziness, faintness, jiggling and trembling in the limbs together with an incredible panic that death is just around the corner and coming.

The intensity of the anxiety attack symptoms can be pretty high and in anatomical terms it translates as the body’s reaction to imminent danger. There is normally a trigger that unleashes the entire array of feelings and this could be a real-life situation or an internal psychological factor that is apparent or hidden to the sufferer himself/herself. Because of this intense stimulation, the cardiovascular system is the first that leaps into action, starting a first wave of anxiety attack symptoms. The heart pumps blood towards the extremities preparing the body for running or for fighting; plus, the blood vessels constrict in the skin and other less used body parts to compensate for the flooding of the muscles.

Skin paleness thus becomes one of the minor anxiety attack symptoms. It is this same blood vessel constriction that causes mouth dryness as well, because the reaction is experienced at the level of the mouth, kidneys and digestive system too. The body needs to get cooled down, and therefore you’ll sweat a lot when suffering from a panic attack. Plus, another normal reaction of the body to the nervous command is to lighten the load in the digestive tract, which can easily cause an intense or rapid bowel movement as well as an upset stomach.

All the rest of the anxiety attack symptoms are characterized as normal body reactions when sensing danger. The need for superior oxygenation levels is manifest in the accelerated breath or breath shortness. More air would also allow you to scream louder. Then, various physical discomforts and pains will disappear during a panic attack because the brain secrets endorphines, the most powerful pain relievers in nature. More energy is consumed, fat is burned, the pupils dilate and your entire perception system sharpens. Consequently, the anxiety attack symptoms represent the normal preparations of the body when sensing fear.

Filed Under: Anxiety