The Difference Between Anxiety Attack and Panic Attack

If you ask most people, they would tell you that an anxiety attack and a panic attack are the same thing. While the symptoms, causes and cures are very similar, they have a few pronounced differences. Let’s take a look at each one.

Panic Attack
Panic attacks come suddenly and have no obvious triggers. The symptoms are:
• Intense anxiety
• Fear
• Sick at your stomach
• Unable to breathe

At the onset of a panic attack, your body is flooded with a variety of hormones, especially epinephrine or adrenaline. This flood of adrenaline comes as a result of the “fight or flight” response.

Someone experiencing a panic attack often feels helpless, like they’re trapped and there’s no way out of a frightening situation. A panic attack can last from 15 seconds to 30 minutes.

Victims often say that they experience a sudden wave of fear, their heart pounds and they can’t breathe. It feels like they’re going to die. The overwhelming fear is much stronger than that of an anxiety attack and the victims feels out of control.

Anxiety Attack
Everyone gets anxious from time to time. Whether you’re running late for work or facing a big exam, it’s normal to feel anxiety. An anxiety attack on the other hand can be quite debilitating.

An Anxiety Attack can come on unexpectedly, but normally it occurs as a result of prolonged obsession over some person or event. There’s an irrational feeling of fear. You feel threatened, like there’s danger lurking. You may sweat or feel flushed. You loose control and can’t focus.

This is a chronic disorder where the victim tends to over worry about money, health, family etc. They expect disaster. There’s a gnawing fear that something awful is about to happen. Victims have trouble sleeping and often struggle with depression.

Common Cures
There is a difference between anxiety attack and panic attack, however, for both disorders, doctors often prescribe antidepressants, like Prozac, which can greatly reduce the symptoms and the severity of attacks.

Some of the natural remedies suggest participating in relaxing activities such as warm baths, reading, listening to music. The trick is to re-focus your thoughts onto something soothing. Once you return your thoughts to that “peaceful place” your symptoms subside and a calm state of mind flows.