Anxiety attacks are the most extreme example of an anxiety reaction. When anxiety reaches a level at which the symptoms cause the sufferer to experience symptoms which exceed those normally experienced during an appropriate anxiety reaction, an anxiety attack is formed.
If anxiety is appropriate when a 'real' threat is present, Adrenalin is 'used up' effectively by either fleeing from or fighting the threat. When Adrenalin is not used up during an anxiety reaction when no real threat is present, it causes the body to experience and maintain a much higher level of symptoms which then escalates into an anxiety attack.
What are the Symptoms of Anxiety Attacks ?
Common anxiety attack symptoms include :
· Breathlessness
· 'Racing' heart
· Shaking
· Dizziness
· Stomach symptoms
· Blurred vision
· 'Pins and needles' sensations in limbs
· Difficulty swallowing
· Chest pains
and many others.
These physical anxiety attack symptoms are usually accompanied by strange or depressing thoughts and feelings of despair.
Although anxiety attack symptoms seem threatening, because no 'real' threat is present, these symptoms occur inappropriately and therefore do not represent 'true fear'. Anxiety attacks are not the response to an actual threat but make the sufferer 'feel threatened'; because the sufferer interprets anxiety attack symptoms as the response to a real threat, credibility is given to the symptoms and more fear is created, this produces more symptoms and an anxiety cycle is created.
The above information thankfully comes from the panic-anxiety.com at the following link.
