Panic attacks and anxiety attacks are basically the same thing, and they are on the rise. Nobody knows why there are on the increase but our current stressful lives seem to be a big factor. Still, they are increasing and causing more and more people some serious grief.

How can you know you are suffering an anxiety attack? That's a difficult question to answer as the symptoms are quite wide ranging and can vary from mild to the downright frightening. You may just experience a hot sweat or you may experience an attack where you can't breath and your heart races out of control.

I think if you were having the more serious symptoms you would know you needed some type of help. But you could also be having mild symptoms and not even know it's an anxiety related attack. These mild symptoms could well be warning signs of something worse to come.

My wife had her first serious panic attack while out driving the car. Needless to say it wasn't just the actual anxiety attack that frightened her but the fact she could have crashed and killed herself and others. This scenario just doesn't bear thinking about.

If you've been having a few strange moments lately, maybe even experiencing one or more of the following… Feeling anxious or on edge, can't sleep, can't concentrate, can't sit still or feeling irritated. These symptoms could well be a sign of things to come. Things much worse.

Before you actually get into a panic about these symptoms let me assure you there are many things that can cause these symptoms. And none of them are anything to worry about. Lack of sleep may just be too much caffeine. Fidgeting may be uncomfortable clothing.

However if you think you may want to delve further and check out if you are a potential anxiety attack victim. You can take an anxiety symptoms test which may give you a better idea. All you do is tick a few boxes with either yes or no and total your score at the end.

You can then make a better informed decision to seek out further help or not.