What happens during an anxiety attack? The physiological reasons that contribute to an anxiety attack are not known. The effects of the anxiety attacks, however, are widely known. Anxiety is a natural and common emotion that every living individual will feel. Its purpose is the same as our senses; to alert us to danger and helping us to react to unique situations. This is scientifically known as the fight or flight response.
Sweating profusely, breathing harder and faster and an increasing heart rate are signs that one’s anxiety level is fluctuating. A person can feel calm and normal in one minute and agitated and frustrated the next. Anxiety pushes one to take action in the event of a stressful situation.
Most of these situations are not always predicaments and aren’t always confrontational. The situations can be daily scenarios such as worrying about your kids should you run late in fetching them from school. This mild level of anxiety motivates you to adhere to the schedule.
What Causes Anxiety?
As we can see anxiety is a good thing, normally this is what happens. During an anxiety attack actions and emotions are jacked up to an unmanageable level. The processes that traditionally control these functions work too well and can be debilitating to the sufferer.
Anxiety can also be caused by a physical condition such as chemical imbalances in the body, also emotional trauma or pharmacological reasons can be to blame. People diagnosed with anxiety mood disorders experience sudden overwhelming panic, chest pain, dizziness and possibly a paralysing fear of dying.
Stress is obviously the main trigger for anxiety episodes and the determination of these triggers is paramount in helping to solve the condition.
A myriad of Americans experience some form of anxiety disorder. The number of affected people comes up to almost 20 million. What impedes the progress of recovery is that it is not easy to find the underlying cause of the problem. There are many reasons that contribute to anxiety disorders and these reasons vary from one person to another.
What happens during an anxiety attack and the symptoms of the condition usually stay the same throughout the span of the episode, but the pathology is different. The attack happens swiftly and without any pre-emptive measures. Stressful conditions usually cause the attack to happen in a heartbeat. Those who are unable to get a hold of their emotions usually feel as if they will die. This fear that one is about to lose his life only compounds the severity of the situation.
It is Not Your Fault
Anxiety disorder and anxiety attacks are part of a chain; the attacks are a symptom of the disorder. A person living with anxiety disorders is not mentally weak. This is a medical condition that affects women more than their male counterparts, and can affect all social and cultural classes.
Studies show that it tends to be hereditary. There are no lab tests to distinguish anxiety disorders, although a physical exam is necessary to rule out physical causes. Diagnosis is validated through the patient’s past history and an evaluation of symptoms that manifest in the afflicted person. Treatment consists largely of relaxation techniques, behavioural modification, psychotherapy and anxiety reducing drugs.
As of yet, there is no cure for anxiety attacks but symptoms normally respond well to one or any combination of these methods.