Recognizing Anxiety Attack Symptoms

Anxiety attack symptoms typically include shortness of breath, heart palpitations, uncontrollable thoughts, and feelings of panic. They occur with an episode of extreme and excessive worry, discomfort, or fear, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to 15 minutes or longer.

An anxiety attack can be frightening, despite the absence of an actual dangerous or life-threatening situation. When you have an anxiety attack, self-care methods like deep breathing may help you feel calm. If you regularly experience anxiety attacks, your healthcare provider can recommend treatment, including medications or therapy.

What Does an Anxiety Attack Feel Like?

Anxiety attack symptoms can vary from person to person, and situation to situation. People describe a wide range of experiences and symptoms.

Symptoms of an anxiety attack can include:

• Lightheadedness
• Sweating
• Nausea
• Trembling, shaking, or tremors
• Irritability
• Numbness and tingling in hands and feet
• Shortness of breath
• Heart palpitations
• Chest pain
• Feelings of fear

Anxiety attacks symptoms in females can be more severe than they are in males, and females may be more sensitive to situations that that they perceive as threatening. Females are also around twice as likely as males to have panic disorder.

Anxiety Attack vs. Panic Attack

Unlike an anxiety attack, the term "panic attack" is recognized in the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).

An anxiety attack can be mild, moderate, or severe and can encompass any of the symptoms of anxiety. In contrast, the symptoms of a panic attack are intense and severe. They tend to come on suddenly and don't always have a cause or trigger.

During a panic attack, you are likely to experience severe physical symptoms, extreme fear, and an impending sense of doom.

There is no hard-and-fast rule about what differentiates an anxiety attack vs. a panic attack. However, you might think of an anxiety attack as broader in nature.

Causes

There is no singular cause of anxiety attacks. Anxiety attacks are a symptom of many mental health conditions. They can also be caused by specific stressful life situations or individual triggers.

Situations

Any number of situations could trigger an anxiety attack. For many people, an already stressful life situation may boil over into an anxiety attack. These situations could include:

• Divorce
• Unemployment
• Work-related stress
• Caregiving duties
• Grief or loss of a loved one
• Financial stress
• Performances or presentations
• Exams
• Driving in heavy traffic
• Global pandemic

Remember that anxiety, as an emotion, is a totally normal part of life. Major life changes can be anxiety-inducing, but a healthy level of anxiety can keep you alert and focused. However, if your day-to-day worries lead to an anxiety attack with acute symptoms, this can be incredibly distressing.

Mental Health Conditions

Anxiety attacks can also be a symptom of certain broader mental health diagnoses. In particular, anxiety and panic attacks are a feature of many anxiety-related disorders, including:

• Panic disorder
• Social anxiety disorder
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Specific phobias, such as agoraphobia

Medical Conditions

Certain medical conditions can contribute to anxiety. For example:

• Thyroid disorders
• Heart arrhythmia
• Conditions of the adrenal gland
  

How to Calm an Anxiety Attack

You might feel out of control while having an anxiety attack, but there are ways to take back control. Through self-care, you can reduce your stress, lessen the severity of anxiety attacks, and even prevent future anxiety attacks.

During an anxiety attack, you can try specific coping strategies to reduce the severity of the attack or stop it altogether. One way to do this is with the 3-3-3 rule:

• Look at your surroundings and identify three objects.
• Listen to the sounds in your environment and identify three of them.
• Finally, move three body parts.

This sequence of activities can take your mind off the anxiety and help you calm down.

Some other strategies that can be helpful include:

• Deep breathing
• Mantras
• Positive visualization

Some self-care strategies that can help prevent anxiety attacks include:

• Regular aerobic exercise
• Getting adequate sleep
• Practicing meditation and mindfulness
• Progressive relaxation
• Social support
• Yoga
  
• Eating a Mediterranean diet

Treatment

It is important to seek treatment for anxiety attacks. Not only can ongoing anxiety attacks lead to avoidance of previously enjoyed activities or situations, but research also indicates that anxiety attacks lead to an increased risk of suicide attempts.

Thankfully, there are many effective and accessible anxiety treatments. While most of these treatments are designed for anxiety disorders, they will also be relevant and useful to people who experience anxiety attacks. This is because, for some people, anxiety attacks are a symptom of an overall anxiety disorder.

Medication

Medication is a central treatment for anxiety disorders and can help reduce symptoms for many people. Generally, your primary care healthcare provider or psychiatrist will prescribe medication for anxiety.

These medications can include:

• Anti-anxiety drugs: Benzodiazepines can be useful for the acute treatment of anxiety.
• Antidepressants: Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most commonly prescribed antidepressants to treat anxiety.
• Beta blockers: These are off-label medications used to treat the physical symptoms of acute anxiety, such as rapid heartbeat and tremors. This can make them a good treatment for people who experience anxiety attacks during social performance.

Therapy

Anxiety attacks are also treatable through psychotherapy. Talk to your healthcare provider about referring you to a psychiatrist or therapist for your anxiety. Two types of therapy, in particular, are effective at reducing the symptoms and frequency of panic or anxiety attacks.

• Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) has been widely studied and shown to effectively treat anxiety disorders. Through CBT, a therapist teaches you to become aware of your distorted thoughts and behaviors and helps you change them in more emotionally adaptive ways.
• Exposure therapy may also be effective at treating anxiety attacks, especially those related to specific phobias. In exposure therapy, which may also be done through virtual reality, you are gradually exposed to a frightening stimulus. Through exposure, you are taught adaptive techniques and adjust to the stimuli, which eventually becomes less frightening.

Summary

Anxiety attacks are episodes of extreme alarm that can cause symptoms of shortness of breath, a racing heart, and feelings of panic. An anxiety attack is not a diagnosis in and of itself, though experiencing these attacks can be part of another mental health diagnosis, including anxiety disorder.

It's important to seek medical help for anxiety attacks. Your healthcare provider can diagnose the cause and connect you with appropriate treatment, such as medication and psychotherapy. They also may suggest self-care measures and lifestyle changes that can help.

Keep in mind that some symptoms of anxiety are similar to those found with other serious medical conditions, such as heart attacks. Your healthcare provider can help diagnose or rule out these conditions, too.