The attacks usually last about ten minutes, but can be as short as one minute. In severe cases, these attacks can happen in cycles. These cycles may last for extended periods. These cycles can cause anticipation anxiety between episodes.

Physical symptoms of anxiety attacks generally include shortness of breath, heart palpitations and sweating. Tingling and numbness in the extremities, dizziness, lightheadedness, headaches and nausea are also commonly experienced. These may appear to be random, but theyre actually the result of the bodys preparations for protection.

The anxiety attack is brought on by a sudden onset of fear. In response, the body releases adrenaline followed by increases in the heart and breathing rate and production of sweat (to regulate body temperature). These actions prepare the body for the physical activities of fighting or escaping. Because the anticipated strenuous activity rarely follows the panic attack, these reactions result in physical discomfort.

The increased heart rate is felt as heart palpitations. Rapid breathing (hyperventilation) results in a drop in carbon dioxide levels in the lungs and blood. This leads to the tingling, numbness, dizziness and lightheadedness. The adrenaline causes a narrowing of the blood vessels which results in less blood flow to the head. This also contributes to the lightheadedness and headaches.

For a video on what to do during a panic attack click here

The terms “anxiety attack” and “panic attack” are used almost interchangeably in today’s culture, but they have very different meanings to many mental health professionals. In reality there is not that much difference for the sufferer of these problems but for the sake of clarity we will show the differences.

An anxiety attack is when something bad has happened to you or you are afraid that something bad may occur so you start to get very anxious. You can get so anxious that you might even experience some physical symptoms. For example, you might get real nervous, and you might start to have heart palpitations and increased sweating. An anxiety attack can last anywhere from a few minutes, such as just before a public talk, to a few days – such as when you are starting a new job. The main thing about an anxiety attack is that you are worrying about something and you usually know what it is.

A panic attack on the other hand descends upon you suddenly, out of the clear blue for no apparent reason at all. You suddenly feel like you are having a heart attack, or that you are going crazy and losing control. You can have many of the same symptoms as an anxiety attack with the racing heart, shortness of breath, tightness in your throat and nausea but it comes upon you very sudden.

The primary focus during a panic attack is worry about your body (dying) or mind (going crazy). Some people have anxiety attacks that turn into panic attacks. They will start to get worked up about a stressful event in their lives and it turns into a full blown panic attack.

The bottom line is that either a panic attack or an anxiety attack can be a very disturbing event in someone’s life.