As you lay your head down on the pillow you cannot get your problems and woes out of your mind. Your thoughts are racing and your head is far from clear. You try to calm down but you feel severe heart palpitations. In fact, these palpitations are so strong you worry that you may be experiencing a heart attack. While you are not having a heart attack, you are experiencing a very severe problem: you are having a panic attack.

All people have different stresses and situations that they have to struggle with. This we can understand. But there those times that we cannot cope well with these stresses and situations. During these times the weight you feel over these stresses can be unbearable. These can reach such a level as to bring on a panic attack, which can be so detrimental to your feeling of well being, and to you overall body's health too.

How a Panic Attack is Defined

How does one truly identify a panic attack and what is it? First a panic attack is a disorder of the mind that is caused by severe anxiety. A person's first sign of the disorder is an urgent feeling of either panic or fear. Many times these types of attacks can come up with no warning, and do not need to necessarily be having anything trigger them.

Usually the duration of these attacks is about 10 minutes. But some can last longer going on for as long as 30 minutes, which intensifies the psychological and mental effects for them. But the short attacks can be just as frightening and cruel to the mind. What is super scary though is that a large amount of people are not even aware that they are having any panic attacks when they are going through them. This makes it vital to understand how to recognize the symptoms.

The Symptoms of the Panic Attack

The symptoms one has when having a panic attack are hard to ignore. There is an overwhelming feeling of panic which floods over the person. You could have a hard time breathing and the palpations of the heart, and even have pains in the chest. This can bring on nausea and hot flashes. As you can see the symptoms are not just minor feeling, they can make you feel that doom is around the corner.

There are no simple remedies for an anxiety disorder. When experiencing a panic attack, a person has to try to calm themselves, and get back in control especially of their breathing. You can try doing some deep, long breaths to get breathing under control, it usually works. When you are somewhat calm again, the worst of the panic attack is over. You will need to search out a medical opinion though on which treatment will work for your particular condition.

Searching for Professional Advice

You need to first get a good evaluation on your condition from a professional in the mental health field of medicine. It is actually recommended that you go to a psychiatrist who is board certified. Due to the fact that anxiety disorders come in more than one form, only a professional can properly diagnose the precise disorder you are afflicted with.

After the diagnosis is made then the correct treatment can be prescribed. This usually includes counseling, therapy, prescription medications, or all three of these used together. There are many methods of treatment that work successfully on this condition. This means, that the problems of coping with the panic attack, can be alleviated and the condition will not have to be suffered with any longer.