By: Ryan Conway

What are Panic Attacks?
 Periods of intense and overwhelming anxiety.
 Occur quickly most times without any triggers.
 Flight or Fight controls out of the ordinary.
 May be mistaken for a heart attack.
 Fear of dying, flashy vision, nausea, feeling
faint and heavy breathing are all signs of a
panic attack.
 Most attacks last 20 to 30 minutes and rarely
last more than an hour.
 Affects over 6 million adults in the US.

You might know a few?
 Princess Diana
 Sigmund Freud
 Cher
 Michael Jackson
 Nicholas Cage
 Johnny Depp
 Aretha Franklin
 John Madden
 Isaac Newton
 Oprah Winfrey
 Buzz Aldrin

Some Causes
 Genetics and Family history can play a role.
 Stress over time or sudden onset of stress.
 Obsessive compulsive disorder, post traumatic
stress, certain phobias and hypothyroidism.
 Lack of a healthy diet, Vitamin B deficiency, tape
worm and parasitic infections.
 Personal loss, death or illness.
 Withdraw from any substance, drugs, alcohol,
nicotine and even caffeine.
 There is no definite answer as to why some people
have panic attacks. It is thought to be a chemical
imbalance which is why medication is given.

Physical Symptoms
 Pounding heart
 Sweating
 Shaking
 Shortness of breath
 Sense of choking
 Chest pains
 Nausea
 Dizzy
 Feeling faint
 Numbness
 Chills and hot flashes

Emotional Symptoms
 Feelings of apprehension or dread
 Trouble concentrating
 Feeling tense and jumpy
 Anticipating the worst
 Irritability
 Restlessness
 Watching for signs of danger
 Feeling like your mind’s gone blank

Normal Circumstance Attack
 Body must experience some kind of provoking
stimulus.
 This releases adrenaline into the body to prepare for
strenuous activity.
 Leads to in increased heart rate. (often mistaken for
a heart attack)
 Rapid breathing, sweating and shortness of breath.
 Since adrenaline isn’t being used up the bloods ph
balance changes, causing lightheadedness,
dizziness, or numb feeling.
 May feel that they are unable to catch their breath
because of the decreased amount of C02 in the
blood from heavy breathing.

Treatment
 Medications
 Paper Bag Breathing
 Meditation
 Abdominal Breathing
 Talking to someone who has experience
with this type of situation
 Avoid smoking and caffeine
 Simply Lying Down

Work Cited
 Anxiety Panic Attacks Resource Site - panic attacks
and anxiety awareness. 02 Apr. 2009
<http://www.anxietypanic.com/>.
 InteliHealth:. 01 Apr. 2009
<http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSIHW000/933
9/9474.html>.
 \"NIMH Panic Disorder.\" NIMH Home. 02 Apr. 2009
<http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/panic-
disorder/index.shtml>.
 \"Panic attacks and panic disorder -
MayoClinic.com.\" Mayo Clinic medical information
and tools for healthy living - MayoClinic.com. 03 Apr.
2009 <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/panic-
attacks/DS00338>.

In Case You wanted to
know
 To find out more about panic disorder, call
1-866-615-6464 (National Institute For
Mental Health)
 Panic disorder is one of the most treatable
anxiety disorders.
 E-mail: nimhinfo@nih.gov
 Web site: http://www.nimh.nih.gov
http://panicdisorderanxi
ety.com