An upcoming deadline, an unexpected accident, a disaster about to happen, all these can trigger a panic attack. A panic attack can happen anytime but it’s worse when a panic attack during the night happen. Of the usual and common symptoms of a panic attack, can fainting and tachycardia be part of its telltale signs?
Signs of a panic attack
There are several signs that a person is having a panic attack, and you can physically observe the symptoms at any given time.
For the person who experiences panic, he has a very fast heartbeat that can be associated with a heart-pounding feeling (palpitations) or your heart getting out of your chest, shortness of breath, chest pain, hot flashes, nausea, dizziness, and numbness. You may notice that a person having a panic attack sweats excessively, trembles, shakes, has trouble breathing, or is somewhat out of his mind that he paces or talks to himself.
Misconceptions about panic attacks
Panic attack, fainting, and tachycardia are inseparable. Actually, panic attacks can bring about tachycardia or a racing heartbeat, this attack does not cause fainting. People faint because they experience a sudden drop in the blood pressure, but since panic attacks raise your heartbeat, it is not the cause of your fainting.
Panic attacks are heart attacks. Panic attacks are caused by a fight-or-flight mode of the body, while a heart attack is a heart condition caused by a disease. Even healthy people can have panic attacks, but the same people will rarely have a heart attack since they are healthy.
Panic attacks last a lifetime. Some overly-dramatic storyteller may claim that they panic all day every day, but that is clearly an exaggeration. Panic attacks peak at 8-10 minutes, and then the body goes back to normal. They may feel longer than that, but most attacks last for 2-10 minutes only.
Panic attacks cannot be controlled. Most patients act carelessly and blame it on their panic attack, but the truth is, you can still control yourself even if you are panicking. Panic attacks should not be blamed if you want to do something crazy.