Anxiety Attacks: What Should Everyone Know To Make Them Go Away

It is important to understand your triggers and how to alleviate panic during times when the attacks are more likely to occur.

Anxiety Attacks: What Should Everyone Know to Make Them Go Away

In today’s stressful and fast-paced world, mood and addictive disorders now include a extensive list of mental health issues such as major depressive, anxiety, and bipolar disorders. More than 20 million Americans adults suffer from these disorders. Individuals from low income and lower socioeconomic status are most likely to report high levels of depressive symptoms. Additionally, individuals who lack education and employment are at higher risk for mood disorders, specifically depression. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), anxiety disorders are common in both adults and children. About 18 percent of U.S. adults and 25 percent of adolescents age 13 to 18 will experience anxiety, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. About 4 percent of adults, and nearly 6 percent of teens, have anxiety disorders classified as severe.

Everyone feels anxious at some point in their life. However, for people who have an anxiety disorder, feelings of worry and fear are constant and overwhelming, and can be disabling and long-term if not treated properly. Anxiety attacks are not a true psychological or clinical term, but as a disorder, it’s is a normal emotion, usually linked to depression which can be successfully treated in most cases.

What is an Anxiety Attack?

Anxiety can be triggered by many factors based on one’s emotional needs, stress, oftentimes leading to intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. No two individuals are similar. Environmental factors, financial conditions, family background, situations, genetic factors, and circumstances also contribute to an individual’s personality. Personality also influences what we think, our beliefs, values, and expectations.

Although anxiety attacks are often used synonymously with panic attacks, they have a slight difference based on their severity and level of onset. Panic attacks are usually short term (usually about 10 minutes) with severe anxiety that, it can feel like you are about to die. While an anxiety attack is more intense and exhausting at the time, with physical and mental symptoms that are more severe. Basically, a full-blown anxiety attacks are harder to manage than a simple momentary panic attack.

Recognizing Anxiety Attacks

The American Psychiatric Association’s article, "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders”, states that to understand what someone means by “anxiety attack,” it is necessary to consider the context in which the symptoms occur. What is happening around you? What is going on with your body? What is your physical and mental state?

Some of the physical symptoms of an anxiety attack include lightheadedness, chest pains, rapid heartbeat, slurred speech, numbness or tingling in the extremities, shortness of breath, dizziness and more. More importantly, notice how these symptoms tend to collaborate or can co-exist to create an overwhelming experience that makes one feel like something is physically wrong.

While anxiety attacks may be different for each individual, everyone would agree that not only are they terrifying, but can also seem quite debilitating. Many feel stuck and unable to move or respond, almost paralyzed which is the scary feeling that something is happening to you that you cannot control. One minute you’re okay, and the next you are vulnerable and in an inescapable place that only time can heal. Once the panic or anxiety passes, you are literally drained. Then you are left with the fear of the next attack.

It is important to understand your triggers and how to alleviate panic during times when the attacks are more likely to occur. For example, if driving during rush hour sets off a feeling of anxiousness, dread or fear, then it is a trigger you should avoid. It should be known that these panic attacks are often not just feelings of worry or nervousness, but something much more intense, such as physical and mental events. Also, as one of the causes of anxiety, its best to control panic attacks as they can simply occur for no reason at all, setting a pattern that may lead to severe mental health.

Avoiding Anxiety Attacks

By understanding your anxiety triggers and how to avoid attacks, one must also remember to not cause more feelings of distress by over worrying about matters beyond your control. To make anxiety attacks go away you must understand and control your fears, triggers, and eliminate feelings of points of no return.

Medical professionals suggest that you also control your breathing, talk to people about it, replace anxious feelings with calming activities, and to remind yourself that it is simply anxiety. Once you are able to control the attacks, you can then focus on prevention without worry, that is, don’t overthink it. Anxiety attack prevention consists of controlling your response to anxiety attack symptoms, managing your overall anxiety and stress, and your reaction to stress.

Seeing a health professional as well as having a physical exam will help you best manage and understand anxiety attacks. This course of action will also as provide you with adequate resources and support to aid in preventing future attacks.