One of the more common of an anxiety attack symptom is a pounding heart. This symptom can be caused by a number of different anxiety attacks, from mild to severe. Many people who do have an attack tend to clutch at their chest in fear of a heart attack or other ailment, when in reality they are experiencing anxiety.

Shortness of breath is another anxiety attack symptom that is seen a lot because of someone feeling panicked due to other symptoms they are experiencing. The shortness of breath can seem like your world is caving in, but by being able to recognize the symptom as part of an anxiety attack, you can more easily control this.

Becoming lightheaded is one anxiety attack symptom that happens a lot in crowded areas. Many people have a phobia about being in crowds and becoming lightheaded or fainting is a common symptom that they experience. People will sometimes think they have a more serious issue, but it reality it’s only one of the symptoms that are associated with anxiety attacks.

Another anxiety attack symptom that is almost always present in an attack is the fear of losing control. This fear comes from the seemingly uncontrollable symptoms that precede like becoming light headed with a racing heart, and shortness of breath. It is a natural feeling for us to feel as if we are losing control of our own bodies.

Anxiety attack symptoms vary and are not isolated to just one group of people. Everybody is different and may experience varying symptoms based on what their fears may be. Anxiety is a treatable problem and many people live normal lives once they learn to control there attacks. In the end, by visiting a physician to talk about the anxiety attack symptoms that bother you, a plan can be put in place as to how you can effectively overcome the symptoms as they occur, making it possible to ensure anxiety attacks do not have precedence over your life.

As these may be some of the most common symptoms I always recommend that you see your doctor. Your doctor will make sure and confirm your symptoms. Once you have done that you can begin to find techniques and methods to eliminate your anxiety attacks.

Feel free to visit some of my sites Stop Anxiety Attacks and Stop Anxiety Now

Anxiety is one of the most common symptoms of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome (PMS), post-childbirth, and perimenopause (the period of time before the onset of menopause). It may take the form of panic attacks, nervousness, sweating, intense fear, anxiety combined with depression, or other overwhelming symptoms. 

Here are several periods of hormonal change that can intensify or trigger anxiety in women. 

Puberty — Developing girls experience hormonal changes as they prepare to begin their reproductive years. 

Monthly menstrual cycle — Often girls and women experience PMS the week before their period. 

Following childbirth — The severe drop in certain hormones following childbirth can cause dramatic physical symptoms and a temporary feeling of depression or anxiety; in some women, it is prolonged.

Perimenopause — Perimenopause is the period of time when the body is approaching menopause. It may last from two to ten years. During this time the menstrual cycle becomes irregular as the hormone levels keep fluctuating, causing some women to experience PMS-like symptoms.

Although many of us may use the term “going through menopause” to describe this period of time, it is actually called perimenopause. Many women experience panic attacks for the first time during perimenopause. Other symptoms such as insomnia, hot flashes, rapid heartbeat, and sweating are also common. 

With surgical menopause (hysterectomy), you’ll likely experience perimenopausal symptoms after the surgery, even if you did not experience symptoms prior to surgery. Symptoms can be prolonged and are due to the dramatic and sudden decrease of certain hormones as a result of the hysterectomy.  

In non-surgical circumstances, menopause occurs after a woman has no periods for twelve consecutive months. It lasts only one day. Many women report feeling better than ever mentally and physically after menopause, due to the fact that hormone levels stabilize.

Hormonal Change Triggers the Fight Or Flight Response

Due to the fact that hormonal change causes physical and psychological stress, it triggers our “fight or flight” response. The fight or flight response is the body’s inborn, self-protective response to perceived danger. 

When we perceive that we are under stress, our bodies send out a rush of cortisol, adrenaline, and other brain chemicals to prepare us to “fight” or “flee” the danger. 

The fight or flight response triggers the physiological changes that we associate with anxiety, such as rapid heartbeat, increased blood pressure, sweating, muscle tension, narrowed mental focus, heightened emotion, and many other symptoms. 

These are the same physical sensations that many women experience when their hormone levels fluctuate. In other words, most of the symptoms women experience during times of hormonal change are really fight or flight reactions. While these physical sensations are not dangerous, they can be very intense and overwhelming.

Our fight or flight response mechanism can become “hypersensitive” with the various hormonal changes in our bodies that take place from puberty to menopause. Many of us are in a constant state of stress due to our lifestyle and thought patterns, which also causes hypersensitivity.

In other words, our bodies may be stuck in the “on” switch of fight or flight. What normally wouldn’t trigger symptoms, now initiates symptoms and perpetuates an ongoing cycle. 

Fight or flight reactions in and of themselves are harmless. However, when our thoughts convince our rational minds that these symptoms are scary and dangerous, we create an anxiety cycle.

Anxiety consists of more than fight or flight reactions acting by themselves. Unproductive thoughts play a critical role in creating and perpetuating the anxiety we experience.

Our thoughts convert fight or flight reactions into anxiety, and a self-perpetuating cycle begins. Soon we find ourselves limiting our behaviors because of anxiety as well, which further entrenches the vicious cycle.

When a person is under stress, unresolved emotions and issues commonly come to the forefront. Because hormonal change is a major stressor, it can bring up internal conflicts and self-doubt in many areas of our lives. All of a sudden, we may find that the negative self-talk that we successfully pushed to the background of our lives during less stressful times is now playing center stage. 

During periods of hormonal change, we may also feel uncertain about our changing roles (e.g. maturing from girl to woman, becoming a mother, becoming a mature woman past childbearing years), which can add to our internal conflict. 

When we fail to successfully resolve internal conflicts and the unhelpful thought patterns that contribute to them, we create a breeding ground for anxiety. Combined with fight or flight symptoms, it’s no wonder that these unproductive thoughts create and perpetuate the anxiety cycle! 

What can you do if hormone-related anxiety affects you?

Here’s some great news! The same tools that you can use to overcome anxiety due to other reasons can help you to conquer anxiety related to hormonal changes too.

Research shows that cognitive-behavioral techniques that help you change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors, lifestyle changes, relaxation techniques, and nutritional strategies (all found in our Conquer Anxiety Success Program) can help women dealing with hormonal changes.

These types of strategies not only help women regain a sense of control over their lives, but actually achieve improved physical and emotional well being! Here are a few tips to get you started:

– Focus on reducing preventable stress in your life that triggers the fight or flight response — stop the yo-yo dieting; increase sleep to eight or nine hours a night; exercise regularly; don’t skip meals; cut back on your frantic schedule; and decrease stimulants, such as caffeine. 

The body isn’t designed for constant stress. When we are bombarded with stress, our ability to cope can become overwhelmed because the elevation in stress hormones makes the fight or flight switch remain “on.”

– Learn how to train your body to respond differently to stress so that you can automatically turn the false alarm “off” when the fight or flight response is triggered. Relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation can help you achieve this goal.  

– Most importantly, learn how to change how you think. Our thoughts are what convert the harmless fight or flight response into a vicious cycle of anxiety. Remember, just as our thoughts hold the key to creating anxiety, they also hold the key to eliminating it!

There have been a few studies done in the United States and they have estimated the frequency of various forms of chronic anxiety disorder.  The studies show that 2% to 3% of the population of the United States will suffer from panic disorder at some point in their lifetimes.  The most recent population estimates for the United States is just over 300 million people, so somewhere between 6,000,000 to 9,000,000 will suffer from panic issues in their lifetimes.  Obviously, these people shouldn’t feel like they are alone.

Similarly, there are 12,000,000 to 21,000,000 people who are or will suffer from something called generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).   Obsessive compulsive disorder will claim about 6,000,000 victims over their lifetimes.  Post traumatic stress disorder will claim up to 27,000,000 while social phobia will impact up to 40,000,000. 

Interestingly, these studies found race isn’t a factor in panic disorder as whites, Hispanics and African Americans suffer these symptoms at the same rate.

Women are about 3 times more likely than men to have one of the anxiety disorders over the course of their lifetimes.

Chronic anxiety disorder has been directly tied to heart disease and high blood pressure.  Both of these physical maladies are also tied to other medical conditions like diabetes and kidney disease.  So, suffering through extended periods of high stress can cause other physical problems.

Many times chronic anxiety disorder leads to alcohol and drug abuse.  At first, the use of these substances seem to help with anxiety symptoms, but over time they usually make them worse. 

Anxiety disorders generally find their roots in a person’s childhood or early adult years.  However, there are some indications that another prime time for anxiety issues to appear is when a person is in the age range of 45-54 years.

Chronic anxiety disorders have also been shown to have a direct correlation to suicide rates as continual stress compounds those issues that generally contribute to depression and a feeling of helplessness.

So, various forms of chronic anxiety disorder are very common and can cause a variety of physical consequences that can progress to very serious illnesses and conditions.  Therefore, if you or someone you know is suffering from chronic anxiety disorder, it is extremely important to take the necessary steps to get the condition addressed to reduce the impact on physical health. 

Conclusion–if you’re suffering from some type of chronic anxiety disorder don’t just sit there–do something about it.

Recovery is a possibility if the combination of appropriate treatments is sought. With a great number of medication treatments available for the varying anxiety disorders, the doctors and psychiatrist are best able to diagnose your anxiety complaints to suggest and get you started on the most appropriate treatment for your specific medical condition. On a personal note, is it important that you appreciate the fact that if the effectiveness of a treatment course falls short of your expectation, there is other combination of treatments that would best control and alleviate your anxiety disorder permanently.

From the wide selection of available remedies and treatment options, you should evaluate the suitability of these alternatives and its effect in order to settle on the products or methods that best reflect your condition. Again, remember that it is always best to discuss and consult the with your doctor or psychiatric specialist to better understand the nature of these remedies and to gauge if the treatment selections are best fit for treating your anxiety and panic disorders.Traditionally, psychotherapy and prescriptive medication have been most commonly used and recently, complimentary and alternative medicines have gained popularity for its natural healing power. Although the effectiveness of alternative medicines in healing anxiety disorders have yet to be fully established but many trials have shed some lights on its use for such purposes.

Conventional treatment of anxiety disorder is no other than the traditional prescription of medications for lowering the chemical substances in the body that leads to constant anxiety. These medications, some of which can relieve the symptoms of anxiety quickly with few side effects, are also commonly used for treatment of depression. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and Beta-blockers are few examples of these medicines. Generally, medication alone is not enough and the treatment normally has to involve some forms of psychotherapy simultaneously. The main reason is that while medications allow the patients to better deal with anxiety disorders and relieve those adverse effects felt by them, long term use may lead to over reliance on these drugs.

Introduction of earlier techniques of Acupuncture and Ayurveda in controlling anxiety disorders has gradually been accepted as an option of alternative anxiety treatment. These treatments can help to restore comfort and release tension and negative sensation by stimulating internal energy flows that relieve the imbalance of tension build-up in the specific organs. They use essential oils derived from flowers, herbs and plants as well as sterilized acupuncture needles to stimulate the effect of relaxation and energy through scent.

Another alternative anxiety treatment is Gemstone therapy. Here its believed that gemstones have properties that can correct imbalances within your body. Each gemstone that is used in this treatment has healing properties and colors. The right balance can be achieved by placing a gemstone at a specific point on your body.

The choices of alternative therapies and anxiety management techniques are not only numerous, they can be very diverse in nature which extends from exposure therapy, relaxation techniques and supplements, self esteem therapy, cognitive therapy to anxiety education, attention training, nutrition, exercise, assertion and so forth. As long as the core anxiety can be addressed in a structured and supportive anxiety treatment course, full recovery is a certainty.

Social Anxiety Disorder or in other word, social phobia can be described as a marked and persistent fear that arises due to triggering embarrassment or anxiety that a social event or situation ensues. An individual with social anxiety disorder typically anticipate poor performance or judgment by people that would result in his or her feeling of embarrassment or anxiety. In public places regardless of interviews, meetings, speech, work or just any other social activities, the person will inevitably suspect or feel himself or herself being watched or evaluated by other people in one way or another. When these anticipatory actions and its consequent symptoms become so severe that they interferes with the persons day-to-day ordinary routines and social activities, he or she would simply avoid all kinds of social gatherings to prevent himself or herself in a humiliating position.

With plenty of variety of medications available to treat social anxiety disorder, it is imperative that your complaints represent those of the disorder by critically evaluating the symptoms described below. It is useful to gain an understanding of the difference between anxiety that is normal and facilitative; and anxiety that is debilitative and counterproductive before you jump start on any treatment course.

The emotional apprehension of people suffering from social anxiety disorder is very distorting and significant to their lives in that it affects their ability to concentrate on daily routines or even stirs up a fear of madness or losing their minds, insomnia and excessive anxiety. It follows that these people will also experience physical symptoms that include shortness of breath, stomach ache, muscle twitches, excessive sweating and fast heartbeat. Due to the heightened feeling of fear and embarrassment that elicit anxiety and distress at the extreme end of the continuum, these symptoms greatly indicate that social anxiety disorder has resulted.

Should you discover your social anxiety symptoms at an initial phase of the disorder, medication treatments have demonstrated robust and dramatic improvement to relieving you of your symptoms. Among other possible alternative treatments for social anxiety disorder, psychological therapies have also proven to be helpful for many patients with the similar problems. Depending on the magnitude and severity of the condition, social anxiety responds different to different therapies and therefore, do not hesitate to consult with your doctor in discovering the right alternatives for your complaints. You deserve to enjoy social events and situations in a relaxed and stress-free experience. Help yourself by seeking attention and care to benefit from these treatments now!

You have everything inside you that you to control your anxiety and  attack and the related anxiety. The problem is, often we don’t realize that we have the tools let along being in control to implement that which we need to control the anxiety and panic attack. Why? because we feel so out of control at the time. But the tools are there, you just have to develop the internal skills to use them effectively and we will talk about this latter in this article.

Let’s first look at the barriers we put up that are preventing us from becoming healthy and getting rid of or control anxiety panic attacks and stress. What is it that we do that causes the panic attack? What is it that causes the anxiety, what is it that causes the stress. For lets face it if we delete the stress, we control the anxiety which stops the panic attacks.

All very neat but a long way from reality, isn’t it? Why? Because we need a degree of stress in our lives, we use stress to invigorate our actions and improve our personal health. Excess stress however leads us to excessively smoke, drink or eat. Physical activity drops and a feeling of a general loss of esteem develops as we start to feel bad about ourselves. So balance is the key if we are to stop panic attacks and avoid long term reliance on panic attack medications.

We talked about barriers that cause anxiety and panic attacks. So what are these barriers we build that develop into the grounds for a panic attack. We will look at the three key primary issues that most problems can be brought back to

The first is obsessive negativity.

When you are obsessively negative, it means that you have a tendency toward being “negative” about people, places, situations, and things in your life.

Secondly you have obsessive perfectionism.

When you engage in obsessive perfectionism, you are centered on trying to do everything “just so” to the point of driving yourself into an anxious state of being. You may find yourself making statements such as, “I have to do this right, or I’ll be a failure!” or “If I am not precise, people will let down or maybe be mad at me!”

Finally there is obsessive analysis.

When you are obsessed about analyzing things, you find yourself wanting to re-hash a task or an issue over and over again. I must have forgotten something!” or “If I let things go/don’t do them my self, things will go wrong!”

All sound familiar to you don’t they and the reason why is because we all do them, time and time again. However some people just get obsessed about a certain point and then over analyze the issue beyond all reasonable levels. They build doubts that lead to fear that traps them in a spiral, leading ever down words taking there self worth, their ability and self esteem with it. This results in the development of anxiety and potential panic attacks

Some people are more susceptible than others to stress; for some, even ordinary daily decisions seem insurmountable. Deciding what to have for dinner or what to buy at the store, is a seemingly, monumental dilemma for them. On the other hand, there are those people, who seem to thrive under stress by becoming highly productive being driven by the force of pressure.

What are the symptoms of a Panic attack. There are quite a lot of issues that lead to panic attacks as each individual reacts in a different manner under the same conditions. Many may react in a different manner, under the same set of circumstances, should they be exposed to it again. Let’s look at the key points that cause the reactions within our body to stress, anxiety and panic attacks

Stress is the way our body and our mind react to something, which upsets our normal balance in life. During stressful events our adrenal glands release adrenaline, a hormone which activates our body’s defense mechanisms causing our hearts to pound, blood pressure to rise, muscles to tense, and the pupils of our eyes to dilate.

The principal indicator of stress are as follows;

 An escalation in your pulse rate; (however, a normal pulse rate doesn’t necessarily mean you aren’t stressed).

Constant aches and pains,

Palpitations,

Anxiety,

Chronic fatigue,

Crying with out reason or over small issues,

Over or under- eating,

Frequent infections,

Decrease in your sexual desire

These are sure signs you may notice, which indicate you may be under stress and indirectly heading for a possible panic attack. Of course, every time we are under stress, we do not react the same as we may not be under as much duress or fear the next time we are confronted with a stressful situation.

Anxiety, on the other hand, is a feeling of unease within the body usually reflected in a queeze stomach, muscle aches and pains and a lightness in limbs. It is normal to feel anxious when facing something difficult or dangerous and mild anxiety can be a positive and useful experience. Its as we pointed out earlier when we stated a degree of stress and anxiety is good as it improves our performance.

However, for many people, anxiety interferes with normal life. Excessive anxiety is often associated with other psychiatric conditions, such as depression. Anxiety is considered harmful when it is very prolonged or severe. It often appears during a stressful event and continues on after the stressful event. If it is interfering with everyday activities such as going to work or family life it is very important that the suffer of anxiety seeks medical assistance in dealing with the issue.

Unlike stress and panic attacks the physical symptoms of anxiety are caused by the brain sending messages to parts of the body to prepare for the “fight or flight” response. The heart, lungs and other parts of the body work faster. The brain also releases stress hormones. Untreated anxiety is as bad as stress as it will lead into a full blown Panic attack. Such attacks can be totally debilitating and lead to complete breakdowns as previously outlined.

Understanding you stress levels and how you respond under pressure are important to your ongoing health. With this understanding you can make the right choices in the type of work you undertake or the positions you accept in regards to the stress them will apply on you.

Finally anxiety and panic attack medications are now widely available and can be prescribed through your local medical practitioner. As part of the treatment the doctor may refer clients for mental evaluations. Such evaluation will help the individual identify the issues, suppressed or otherwise, that need to be overcome if a full recovery is to be achieved.

One of the simplest and most effective forms of anxiety therapy is to focus your mind on something other than what is causing your anxiety. In other words, stay  busy. I realize this may not seem possible when in the Doctor’s office, giving a speech, or at a job interview, but if you really think about it there are things you can do to eliminate your anxiety. One thing I have used to keep my mind occupied during a speech is to get the audience involved. If I have high anxiety during a speech and feel that I have to continue to speak for an extended duration of time, well that is not a comforting feeling and it can trigger panic. However, if I can get the audience talking, especially if a group conversation results, I find my anxiety is significantly reduced. In fact, I even feel confident and can be very a effective speaker. This isn’t always easy to do. Not every presentation lends itself to this and not every audience is receptive to adding comments or asking questions. But, if you can engage them into the presentation it can take the pressure off of you and make it more of a group discussion. That is only one example of anxiety therapy you can provide for yourself. If you think about it enough you can probably come up with ideas on how you can change what you normally do to relive the pressure that is on you and help to eliminate panic attacks. Just remember, stay busy with something other than what is causing your anxiety. Occupy yourself with activities that are comfortable and you may find that anxiety is no longer a problem. It may take some practice and effort, but it is one option you have in defeating panic attacks.

Panic and Anxiety attacks can be horrifying experiences and are much more common place than the person who suffers from them thinks. Depending on what research you read they either strike more than 10 million people or affect as many as 15% of all adults. Whichever number is looked at. I am sure you will agree with me that this problem that effects women more than men is massive.

Anxiety and Panic disorders becomes classified as a mental illness when the condition causes enough distress to reduce ones ability to function socially, occupationally, or psychologically. During a panic attack, unless you were medically educated, you might think you were having a heart attack, or some other form of medical crisis. Although when they get to this level they are both considered psychiatric conditions, they can be the easiest of all to treat and in most cases are highly treatable. Anxiety and panic attacks are an emotional and physical reaction to a threat, whether that threat is real or perceived. The attacks are often associated with shallow, rapid patterns of breathing and can respond to muscle relaxation techniques and breathing exercises that form a part of many complementary therapies.

It doesn’t matter from what walk of life you come from anxiety and panic attacks are non discriminatory and they appear in situations where your usual skills and talents seem to make no difference, so telling yourself to calm down, doesn’t work that well. The attacks seem to be self-perpetuating and they need prompt and effective intervention. Although anxiety and panic attacks are similar, panic attacks are more high pitched than anxiety.

Anxiety and panic attacks are very frightening and very real to the person suffering the attack and no matter what anybody says they are medical conditions as real to the person as if they were suffering from heart disease. Although they are very scary once you stop letting the fears take over, you’ll feel more in control. This is the first stage in getting better. You may be particularly vulnerable to anxiety and panic attacks if you are suffering from medical conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease, severe pain or medical obesity.

Symptoms can include but are not limited to are: Rapid heart beat, palpitations (awareness of your heart beating), raised blood pressure feeling of tightness in the chest, breathlessness and hyperventilation (rapid, shallow breathing) sweating, pallor, chest pains, feelings of light-headedness and dizziness. Shaking and trembling pins and needles (caused by hyperventilation) usually in hands or feet. Feeling of intense fear and/or impending doom headaches and muscular aches and pains. Insomnia, irritability, nightmares fatigue digestive disturbances, e.g.nausea and/or vomiting, abdominal pain anddiarrhoea. Feeling cut off from yourself and other people, fear of dying, desensitization, depersonalization, feeling of unreality, depression, numbness and difficulty falling or staying asleep. symptoms of panic attacks, feelings of unreality, bodily sensations, body muscles, nausea and diarrhoea, natural instinct, flight reaction, derealisation, muscle tension, abdominal distress, tightness in chest, pounding heart,

Anxiety and panic attacks are a relatively short period of very intense fear and can start with an unpleasant feeling in the throat and a sudden shortness of breath. Anxiety and panic attacks usually last for 10 minutes but more severe attacks may last up to two hours. They may be part of an underlying anxiety disorder such as phobias (irrational fear of, for example, crowds or open spaces), obsessive compulsive disorder (recurrent thoughts and repetitive behaviour), post-traumatic stress, depression or other psychological problems. Or anxiety can come about as a result of pressure at work, in school, at home or even when having a major event or change in your life like death of loved one or divorce.

Anxiety and panic attacks are disorders and although you might be able to put a quick fix together during attacks it is important that you find treatment to free yourself from this disorder and eliminate anxiety and panic attacks permanently. Anxiety medication may not work as it may mask the symptoms and when you stop taking the medication the attacks generally flare back up again. Ultimately because anxiety medication is superficial, it doesn’t treat the root cause of your anxiety.