Heart Attack Symptoms vs. Panic Attack Symptoms

If you’ve ever been in a situation where you feel your blood pressure rising, your chest tightening, and the world spinning around you, you probably wondered if your were having a panic attack or a heart attack. In fact, the sheer dread that you’re experiencing a heart attack undoubtedly made your symptoms even worse… which made you feel even more strongly that you were having a heart attack.

There are also thousands of unneeded emergency room visits each year because people don’t know how to tell the difference between heart attack symptoms vs. panic attack symptoms. When these people begin having chest pains, they automatically assume that they are having a heart attack, and needlessly spend an evening in an emergency room waiting area.

Conversely, assuming that heart attack symptoms are merely indicative of a panic attack can have lasting and life threatening consequences. Even if you survive a heart attack, failure to secure medical attention can cause you to incur lasting heart damage, impaired motor control, and cognitive impairments.

Fortunately, there are ways to differentiate heart attack symptoms vs. panic attack symptoms. Although they seem very similar, even to a bystander, the differences can help you understand what is happening and what to do about it.

First, let’s look at some of the similarities between symptoms of both conditions:

  • Sufferers of both heart attacks and panic attacks will experience a dramatic increase in heart rate. You will likely feel as though your heart is racing, and may feel unable to control it.
  • Irregular heartbeat rhythms are common during both panic attacks and heart attacks. Your heart will likely skip beats, or beat very slowly for a few seconds before accelerating.
  • Both kinds of attacks involve physical pain and discomfort. You may feel a tightening of the chest, intense muscle tension, headache, and tightening of the jaw.

Now that you know the similarities, let’s take a look at the major differences between heart attack symptoms vs. panic attack symptoms:

  • When a heart attack occurs, an irregular or rapid heartbeat is typically followed by intense chest pain. The pain is located in the center of the chest. Although panic attack sufferers often experience tightness of the chest, intense chest pain usually does not occur.
  • Heart attack victims often experience intense pain in their upper body parts, including the jaw, arms, neck, and stomach. This pain is typically absent during panic attacks, although sufferers experience tension in these areas.
  • There is a marked difference in breathing that differentiates heart attack symptoms vs. panic attack symptoms. When you are having a heart attack, you will experience shortness of breath, and you will feel as if you simply cannot get enough air. When you are having a panic attack, on the other hand, you will usually notice rapid breathing.

The effects of panic attacks are also often much shorter in duration than those of heart attacks. In most cases, a panic attack will only last a moment or two. Heart attack symptoms, on the other hand can last for several minutes. If you experience symptoms that last more than a couple of minutes, it is important that you secure medical attention as soon as possible – each minute that a heart attack continues decreases your chances of survival.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder Treatment

What is it like to live with generalized anxiety disorder? Imagine you’re riding in a plane, and the pilot tells everyone on the plane that the aircraft is experiencing technical difficulties. You immediately start having feelings of impending doom – even though you don’t know the exact nature of the technical difficulties, you are left to assume the worst.

Now, imagine having that feeling all day, every day. Even when you are attending to simple tasks, such as grocery shopping or errand running, you have a pervasive feeling that something is about to go horribly wrong. That’s how people with generalized anxiety disorder live their lives.

Fortunately, there are many methods of generalized anxiety disorder treatment that can help sufferers conquer these constant feelings of anxiety, so they can resume living normal, fulfilling lives. If you or someone you love suffers from this condition, rest assured that effective treatment is available – even if you have been dealing with anxiety for years.

One of the most important strategies for generalized anxiety disorder treatment is self help. There are numerous things you can do to reduce feelings of anxiety, even while implementing other methods. First, you can take steps to remove things to contribute to your stress, such as caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco. You can also begin an exercise program, take steps toward adopting a healthier diet, and ask for the support of your family and friends.

Meditation, prayer, and deep breathing are also important parts of generalized anxiety disorder treatment. These techniques will help you to become more focused, reduce physical tension, and become less reactive to external sources of anxiety. Meditation and deep breathing require quite a bit of practice, but as you continue to use these techniques, they will become increasingly more effective.

Many anxiety sufferers find it difficult to sit still long enough to reap the benefits of meditation; for these people, Tai Chi or yoga may serve as a useful alternative.

There are also several medications which can be used to reduce the effects of generalized anxiety disorder. These include Buspar, an effective anti anxiety medication; benzodiazepines, which can provide rapid relief for bouts of anxiety, and antidepressants, which can help address underlying depression and contribute to better, more restful sleep. Your doctor may recommend using several of these medications to provide a comprehensive approach to chemically treating your disorder. Keep in mind, though, that each of these medications can produce unpleasant side effects, such as loss of appetite, irritability, and nausea.

Several types of therapy can also be used as part of a comprehensive generalized anxiety disorder treatment. Cognitive behavioral therapy is commonly used for people with this disorder – you will learn to address the underlying factors of your anxiety, and you will be encouraged to evaluate how these underlying causes relate to your day to day life. By analyzing these causes and placing them in the proper context, you will likely be empowered to detach from them, so that you can begin approaching your life more calmly.

While no single approach to generalized anxiety disorder is appropriate for every person, you will find that integrating several elements of treatment can help you effectively eliminate the paralyzing effects of this disorder. With the help of your doctor, you can create a treatment strategy that is right for you.

Causes of Panic Attacks

Understanding the causes of panic attacks is a very important step toward living a happier, more productive life.

After all, dealing with panic attacks can be a frustrating experience. It can make it very difficult to attend to routine tasks like going to the grocery, picking up the dry cleaning, or attending your child’s PTA meetings. It can also get in the way of work – when you’re afraid of having a panic attack in the middle of a business meeting, it can be very difficult to stay on top of the tasks you need to accomplish in order to excel in your career.

Panic attacks can even interfere with leisure activities, making it very difficult for you to relax. Fairs, sporting events, and even a trip to the movies can become a very frightening prospect when you are dealing with anxiety and the possibility of a panic attack.

In order to deal with be debilitating symptoms of panic attacks, it is important that you take the time to understand them. The first step to managing your anxiety is knowing the causes of panic attacks. This will help you better anticipate when a panic attack will occur, and give you the knowledge you need to minimize the symptoms of these attacks when they occur.

The onset of panic attacks often comes with the occurrence of a major life transition. As you might guess, significantly traumatic events, such as a major illness, the death of a loved one, divorce, and injury can trigger a bout of panic attacks. In some cases, even seemingly positive events, such as marriage, buying a new home, or planning a vacation can produce sufficient anxiety to trigger these attacks.

Job changes are also some of the leading causes of panic attacks. Many times, anxiety is caused by the loss of a job; however, starting a new job, getting a promotion, or accepting a job relocation can leave you feeling stressed and anxious.

Lifestyle decisions are also common causes of panic attacks. Drinking alcohol, for example, can cause changes in your body’s chemistry that set the stage for anxiety and stress. Likewise, the use of tobacco produces sufficient physical changes to bring on panic attacks. Even caffeine (one of the most commonly used drugs in the Western world) creates physical tension and mental uneasiness, and can precipitate episodes of uncontrollable anxiety.

The foods we eat can also contribute to panic attacks. Many of us rely on commercially packaged foods and fast food meals that are virtually devoid of nutritional value. Because of this, we are literally starving our body, which produces physical and mental tension. A diet rich in leaving proteins, complex carbohydrates, and fruits and vegetables can help combat the symptoms of anxiety that compromise our happiness.

A sedentary lifestyle is yet another of the most common causes of panic attacks. Many of us work in office settings where we sit for eight or more hours every day. As a result, we come home feeling exhausted, without the sufficient motivation to exercise – so instead, we spend our evenings sitting on the sofa watching television and eating unhealthy foods. Lack of exercise not only produces physical tension; it also gives our minds the time to wander, and obsess over negative events that may or may not ever happen.