Symptoms of Anxiety Attacks Can Be Mistaken For a Heart Attack
By: John Cielo
Submitted: 2011-08-15 06:24:40 | Word Count: 623
A person experiencing the symptoms of an anxiety attack often thinks they are having a heart attack. This is understandable, since there are similarities between the two sets of symptoms. If you talk to someone about what they are feeling during an anxiety attack, one of the most common responses is that they think they are having a heart attack. Let's look at some symptoms of anxiety attack so that we can see where these people are coming from...
Typical symptoms are:
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shaking and tremors
palpitations
shortness of breath
irregular breathing
tightness in chest and / or throat
hyperventilation
sweating
nausea
tingling in hands and feet
dizziness
disorientation
real fear of some impending doom e.g. a heart attack
You can now see why a person who hasn't had an actual heart attack before would think that they were having one. The symptoms above mimic what the sufferer 'believes' are the symptoms of a coronary.
However, the symptoms of an anxiety attack are just the body's reaction to a perceived threat. In this case the irrational fear of the victim. The most important thing to remember is that they are just symptoms and not life threatening. An anxiety attack cannot harm you.
Under normal everyday levels of anxiety, someone who finds themselves in a highly stressed situation like a job interview, job loss, public speaking, exams, stuck in a lift, public transport, traffic jam, etc. wouldn't normally have an anxiety or panic attack. But someone who already has an abnormally high level of general anxiety and is then put into a stressful situation can suffer all or some of the symptoms of an anxiety attack.
Now, you would think that after their initial anxiety attack they would be able to recognise the symptoms and understand during future attacks that their life is not in danger. But the symptoms of anxiety attack are just so terrifying that it's almost impossible not to get caught up in the terror again and really believe that something dreadful is about to happen.
Not only that, but the 'fear' of having another anxiety attack on top of high general anxiety can actually trigger another attack. So one of the most important aspects in preventing further, repeat attacks is to eliminate that 'fear' of another attack. Once having done that you can then concentrate more effectively on getting rid of your general anxiety. Mainstream treatments aren't very effective in this...
Drug-based medications such as antidepressants, tranquilizers and beta blockers etc. are usually prescribed by your doctor. These can help reduce your general anxiety over time but they have many well known bad side effects and don't address the root cause(s) of your anxiety, i.e. the things in your life and experiences that have given rise to your general anxiety.
Other non-drug therapies like psychotherapy, hypnosis, and meditation, can help but they may only teach you how to 'cope' with your anxiety through the power of positive thought etc., not cure it necessarily. These are coping techniques.
So you need to find a simple, effective way to eliminate your fear of the symptoms of an anxiety attack. You need to find a technique that, once learned and implemented, will prevent further attacks from occurring. This is an important first step in getting rid of your anxiety...
