It is estimated that more than 30 million people in the United States alone suffer from anxiety and/or panic attacks. This is a problem that has become a public health concern. There are many common anxiety symptoms that everyone should be aware of in order to identify an anxiety attack as it is starting.

It is common for a person to report feeling "normal" just before a panic attack strikes. With hardly any waring the person can quickly find themselves falling into the storm of an attack. By familiarizing yourself with the symptoms you can become aware of how panic attacks take hold of you.

Most commonly, panic attacks are reported to have a duration of anywhere between 30 seconds and a half an hour. Sometimes, in persons with a history of chronic acute anxiety, these attacks can take more than one hour to resolve. In an instance where a panic attack has not resolved in more than two hours, emergency medical care should be sought.

The following are the three most common symptoms of an anxiety attack. By identifying these symptoms early a person can learn to disarm the panic attack before it escalates.

Elevated Heart Beat - Anxiety attacks cause the resting heart rate to speed up. And once a panic attack is fully underway the heart may be beating at a highly elevated rate.

When this situation begins to unfold, it is critical that you begin a deliberate slow breathing routine to return equilibrium to the body. You may need to monitor your breathing for a few minutes before your heart begins to return to a resting level.

Mental Disconnect - Another symptom frequently reported during anxiety attacks is the sensation that you have disconnected from your body. The person begins to feel as though they can not interact or connect with their environment. Processing information and thinking clearly becomes extremely difficult.

These sensations are the result of the release of chemicals in the brain. The best way to combat these feelings is to use the same breathing techniques used in the section above.

A Feeling That One Might Die - A panic attack can be a terrifying experience. Many individuals report that they have felt as though they thought they were going to die during an attack because their symptoms were so severe.

Please realize logically that you will not lose your life due to an anxiety episode. While an attack can be very terrifying, it is highly unlikely that you would die or do permanent damage to your body as a result of one.

There can be many symptoms and signs of a panic attack that it is important to pay attention to. However, if you can keep an eye out for these three anxiety attack symptoms then you be at an advantage in diffusing your panic attack early in its onset.