Panic attack vs Anxiety attack: THIS is how you can differentiate between the two

New Delhi : Just like our physical health, our mental health is also a very important factor in our lives. In today's busy and stressful world, most people fail to indulge in self-care and take care of their mental health. This can often lead to major mental health problems due to the amount of stress that we're all exposed to. Mental health problems like anxiety, stress, depression and other such problems have become increasingly common these days. We often hear people talking about panicking and being anxious. While these terms may seem simple but when it comes to mental health they are much more complex. A large number of people struggle with anxiety attacks and panic attacks and most of us do not clearly understand the difference between the two and this is something which happens to be very basic. It's something that we all should be aware of in case we get caught up in a situation where we may have to deal with someone having an anxiety or panic attack or may experience one ourself.

ANXIETY ATTACK

Anxiety attacks can vary from situation to situation. People may have a moderate, mild or a severe anxiety attack and are triggered by certain things or situations. Most people who have anxiety usually deal with minor anxiety attacks in their everyday lives that people around them might not even know of. Most of the times the anxiety attack goes away once the stressor or the trigger goes away. Stress and worry are the main sources of anxiety attacks. While it may seem a lot like a panic attack it is usually short-lived and has emotional symptoms distress, restlessness, fear.

PANIC ATTACK

A panic attack usually happens very suddenly and out of the blue, in absolutely unexpected circumstances. It usually starts off with a sense of dreadfulness and overwhelming fear. Sometimes panic attacks have no triggers and other times it can be triggered by phobias and traumatic memories. People experiencing a panic attack usually feel detached from the world and sometimes even themselves. They may be in a trance-like situation and they may even have a fear of dying or losing control over things around them or themselves. 

NOTE: Both anxiety attack and panic attack have similar physical symptoms like shortness of breath, palpitations, chest pain, tightness in the throat, chills, numbness, sweating or hot flashes, dry mouth, dizziness and sometimes even nausea and headaches.