Anxiety Attack? or Is it Panic Attack?

Your friend in the next cubicle is panting, gasping, sweating and shaking..as you approach and ask him " Hey, are you alright?" he looks at you with dilated pupils and you realise the eyes have widened as he hums.."Y...yeah, am panicky ya!" and then you pat him on the back make him relax in his revolving chair loosen his tie and unbutton top two buttons of his shirt, remove his shoes and give him a glass of water as other staff also gathers around the cubicle making it too crowded. You plead " please guys don't crowd here.. he needs fresh air" " OMG what has happened to him? is it heart attack?" some idiot shouts and I shush him to keep quiet. " I think it must be panic attack."another guys speaks, no Yaar it is anxiety attack" I tell you this guy is always in tension and takes too much of stress.. and the discussion goes on. I request all to go away and I let this guy relax a bit, order a coffee for him and tell him to just chill and close your eyes and do nothing...

You then think it might be a panic attack or is it the anxiety attack? and what the hell is the difference in these two types? In an anxiety attack, people may feel scared, afraid,fearful, apprehensive, may feel their heart racing or feel short of breath, but it's very short lived, and as the stressful situation goes away, so does the anxiety attack. Whereas the panic attack on the other hand doesn't come in 'reaction' to an external stimulus. It's unprovoked and unforeseen and unpredictable totally and it starts internally in the body all of a sudden.

Anxiety is a 'mental health' condition that can cause feelings of worry, fear, or tension due to external factors like a phone call, a message, an email or a letter whatever. For some people, anxiety can also cause panic attacks and extreme physical symptoms, like chest pain. As compared to the panic attacks, which are typically short, reaching their peak in less than 10 minutes. An attack usually lasts anywhere from a few minutes up to half an hour, though repeated attacks can recur for hours together unprovoked.

The symptoms of panic attacks can include rapid heart rate, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, hot red flashes, and feeling a sense of impending doom, chills, nausea, abdominal pain, chest pain, headache, and numbness or tingling sensation in the limbs. This is coming out of some internal fear and not necessarily due to something that has come all of a sudden.

Normally the stress is a natural reaction to some of life's everyday events. Stress makes your body and mind alert to what's going on. However, constant stress can be the sign of a long term anxiety disorder. ... If you have anxiety, you might cry often or uncontrollably and cannot stop crying easily.

How then can we prevent both types of attacks? First and foremost,is to use deep breathing technique everyday early morning do 'alulom vilom' which means breathing through one nostril and exhaling through another one for 10 times and repeat from other nostril and then do alternatively making it about 30 times which gives sufficient amount of oxygen in the body to the brain and to the heart to stay peaceful and healthy. ...Follow this by doing 10 minutes of meditation when we can bring the mind to a stable state and filter all those wandering thoughts about negativity and stressful activities. Focus your energies on to bringing down the breathing to steady level and breathe very lightly and as slowly as possible. Doing this daily twice once in the morning and again before sleeping at night.

Closing your eyes you need to practice 'mindfulness' which means living in the present moment only. Just shut the doors to the past events and close the windows of the future events planned by you. Just think about present moment and what are the things on your mind which are important at this time. Find an object to focus your thoughts fully and visualise a happy picture of your life e.g. your first job, your first salary, your marriage, birth of your first baby...whatever gives you ultimate pleasure and then consider that you are the one very fortunate to have this in your life and your life is filled with happy moments.

Decide to 'Stay positive' always in spite of happenings around you and respond to the events positively and understand and listen to the thoughts of others without it getting affecting your own thinking or affecting your mood drastically. Always remember these are their thoughts and opinions and they do not really matter to you unless they are accepted by you in 'toto' or partially. You the king of the moment and you will accept only those thoughts in your mind which make you peaceful and happy. Take the decisions which you think are important for the good of everyone around and not think selfishly only for you. Consider world vision as your own for doing good for everyone around and make the place lively and play soft music or some happy video when you are alone so that your mood stays cheerful. Remember that you are the master of your destiny and no one else matters to you change the course of life as per their whims and fancies. Once you develop this confidence in you, the attacks due to anxiety and panic will be minimised to maximum extent from own experience.