Panic Attack vs Anxiety Attack: What’s the Difference

A panic attack is not the same thing as an anxiety attack. Although these terms are sometimes used synonymously, panic disorder is actually one of the five major types of anxiety disorders. While anxiety tends to accompany all of these disorders, the psychiatric profession recognizes panic attacks as a distinct issue. Find out more about the symptoms of panic attacks vs anxiety attacks and the usefulness of homeopathy for anxiety and panic attacks.

What Is a Panic Attack?

Panic attacks are identified as a psychiatric condition in the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition.” These episodes involving sensations of sudden, overwhelming fear can be unprovoked and unpredictable or anticipatory. During a panic attack, the body’s autonomous fight-or-flight instinct kicks in and causes disturbing physical symptoms.

An anticipatory panic attack occurs when an individual is aware of the elements that cause a panic attack. This may manifest either in the form of avoidance, which can restrict the ability of a person who suffers from Panic Disorder to live a normal life or panic attacks in which awareness of the condition is a contributing cause.

What Is An Anxiety Attack?

Anxiety consists of thoughts of fear, distress, or worry accompanied by corresponding physical symptoms. Anxiety attacks are not recognized in the DSM-5 like panic attacks. The consensus among the psychiatric profession is that anxiety is a feature of a number of other psychiatric disorders. People who experience anxiety may refer to the mental and physical aspects of an episode of particularly intense worry as an “attack” of anxiety.

There are five primary sorts of nervousness problems: Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Panic Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and Social Phobia. Sufferers of any anxiety disorder may refer to episodes of severe anxiety as “anxiety attacks.” Chronic anxiety tends to be characterized by excessive worry, which builds over time and comes to a head a particular point which a sufferer describes as “attacks.” Anxiety attacks tend not to be as unpredictable as panic attacks.

Panic Attacks vs Anxiety Attacks

Psychiatrists tend to agree that panic attacks are sudden, whereas anxiety builds up over time. Clinical episodes of panic are often distinguished by fears of dying or losing control and a sense of depersonalization or derealization. Episodes of anxiety may have similar thought patterns depending on the type of anxiety disorder.

As Panic Disorder is one of the five types of anxiety disorders, the same natural remedies for teenage anxiety and adult anxiety can be helpful as a part of a more comprehensive treatment program. A holistic, homeopathic treatment binds an antibody to the S100B protein that naturally occurs in the brain and body to address anxiety and panic symptoms without contraindications or side effects.

Panic attacks are a condition recognized by the psychiatric profession, whereas anxiety attacks are not recognized as an issue separate from the five types of anxiety disorders. It may be possible to manage the symptoms of a sudden expected or unexpected panic attack and more generalized symptoms of anxiety with homeopathic anxiety supplements for children and adults.