What causes the attack to happen suddenly might be unknown but knowing the anxiety attack symptoms could actually help to stop it from growing and becoming really bad. In severe cases some patients might have to go and get hospital treatment if it goes for over 15 to 30 minutes at a time.
The anxiety attack symptoms include but not limited to:
- The stomach feels or gets upset.
- Mild, to severe chest pains.
- Nausea, lightheadedness, and dizziness.
- Problems with breathing, and a feeling of being smothered comes on strong.
- People might experience chills, or either hot flashes.
- The hands could have a combination of feeling numb or either tingling.
- Shaking, or either trembling might be felt.
- Distortions that are perceptual, or possible sensations that is dreamlike might happen.
- Real fear and terror or feeling like something horrible and unimaginable could or is about to happen. Often times feeling very powerless when this occurs.
- Wanting someway to escape.
- Afraid of dying.
- Scared with possibly losing control of things, or doing things that might be embarrassing.
Most panic attacks usually last around ten minutes or longer but that can really vary depending on what is going on, and what triggered the attack. Sometimes the symptoms could mimic heart attacks which might make it last longer. Patients that have mental illnesses such as PTSD, or either schizophrenia, or either intoxicated from drugs, might have a higher chance of getting these anxiety attack symptoms and having one. Some anxiety attacks could happen while sleeping and those attacks are called nocturnal panic attacks. They do not happen as often as regular attacks do. This is usually caused from respiratory distress, or could be from disorders that might be psychiatric. People who have these kind of attacks usually wake up really sudden from a deep sleep. When this happens it might take them a longer time to settle down then from someone who has it when they are awake. Ongoing treatment is needed in cases like these and usually some kind of medication is given to help the person be able to sleep at night without waking up to an attack.