Let's Talk About: Panic Attacks

'Let's Talk About' is going to be my new series of posts about mental health. I'm going to aim to write a post once every two weeks for this series.

Anyway, today's post is going to be about panic attacks. There seems to be a real stigma around anxiety and panic attacks and people living with panic disorder have to learn to live with the stigma surrounding the mental illness.

Let me give you a little information about panic attacks:

What is a panic attack?
A panic attack is an exaggeration of your body's normal response to fear, stress or excitement. It is the rapid build-up of overwhelming physical sensations, such as:

• A pounding heartbeat
• Feeling faint
• Sweating
• Nausea
• Chest pains
• Feeling unable to breathe
• Shaking limbs
• Feeling like you're not connected to your body

When do panic attacks happen?

It's different for different people. You might have a good understanding about likely situations or places that can trigger an attack for you, or they may come suddenly and randomly.

Night time panic attacks

Panic attacks can also happen at night due to your brain being alert (due to anxiety) and can wake you up. This can be quite a frightening experience as you are confused at what's happening and wouldn't be able to know it was going to happen.

How long do panic attacks last for?

Most last between 5-20 minutes. Symptoms usually peak within 10 minutes. Sometimes, you can experience symptoms of a panic attack which last for up to an hour. 

How often will you experience a panic attack?

It's different for everyone. Some people may only experience one in their lifetime, but others may have attacks once a month or several times a week.

So, what can you do about panic attacks?

The first thing is to keep your anxiety under control as much as possible. I have written a blog post about dealing with anxiety that you can read here. There is also medication that is available for anxiety sufferers that can help keep it under control. 

This was not a long, advice post but it gives you a bit of a background to panic attacks and panic disorders. 

Daisy x

(All information was sourced from mind.org.uk)