The world today: Panic attacks and acute anxiety. Could it be you next?

Anxiety disorders. They are a group of mental illnesses, and the distress they cause can keep you from carrying on with your life normally. For people who have one, worry and fear are constant and overwhelming, and can be disabling.

I find myself writing this article after a close friend of mine of many years admitted to me that he has been suffering for many years from attacks of acute anxiety and panic. I did not believe him at first and pressed him on the subject, since to all intents and purposes he has always acted as a ‘normal’ human being, having a great sense of humour, compassion and being extremely professional in his chosen career. How could this be, I asked him, and his answer which he wrote to me, I will quote below. He wrote because he found it easier to compose his feelings in written form. Following that conversation I have done some small research into this sometimes crippling illness to understand what my friend has been going through all these years. What I have read has made me acutely aware that in our modern society, many people have been affected by the unrelenting stress of life and work. We are bombarded by so much news, data, and advertisements and constantly reminded of potential financial woes that it has reached saturation point and is now affecting a broad section of the population. While many can and do continue through the stress normally, there are so many that react in a different way, and their brains change due to genetics or environmental stress. This brings on anxieties and panic attacks of varying degrees of intensity.

There are many more people suffering either acute anxiety or panic attacks AA and PA), or both, than you may think. Those incapacitated by this are confined to their home ‘prisons’, not daring to venture out for fear of experiencing an attack while outside their ‘safe’ space of home.

However, the chance of you passing an AA or PA sufferer on the street is certain, since many suffer in silence and are strong enough to carry on their ‘normal’ lives while overcoming the attacks that happen to them on a frequent basis. One could be a colleague who, while seemingly normal, is suffering every second from the fear and concern that AA or a PA could happen at any time, set off by an unknown occurrence and sending them into a spiral of intense worry.

But what does an AA or PA sufferer actually feel?

Here I go back to my friend and quote from his written answer to me, and from which I will take relevant passages.

“The first anxiety attack took me by complete surprise. It actually happened while I was driving and I pulled over to the shoulder as quickly as I could. The world seemed to fade away into the distance and blur, while I had heart palpitations that really scared me. It was over in a matter of a few seconds, but it shook me to my core. I sat in the car for many minutes wondering why this had happened.”

So here we see a seemingly normal guy experiencing an attack for what is apparently no reason, although of course there are many possible answers. Of course there must be a reason behind this first attack but was it due to a genetic condition or the faulty brain circuits or was it because of environmental stress?

He thought that it was perhaps a one-time thing and put the matter out of his head.

A few days later he, in his own words, “I woke up suddenly in a state of panic, hardly being able to breathe and thinking that I was going to faint. My heart was pumping away so hard that I had to get up and walk around a little until things calmed down.”

So now he knew that this was not a one-time event, and began to worry about when the next attack would come. Would it come on his way to work? At work? In a meeting at work? How would he be able to cover his ‘symptoms’?

As he admitted, the stress of worrying about the next attack took its’ toll on him and started exhausting him during his long days at work. He began experiencing panic attacks during meetings and described them as follows:

“Suddenly the world and the room started to recede, as if I was having an out of body experience. When I spoke my voice sounded like a voice of someone unknown to me, strange. My hands were wet from sweat and my heart was pounding. I was freaked out and worrying if someone had noticed. With time I found out how to cover up and conceal my attacks, but that sapped even more energy out of me and I invariably arrived home exhausted. I struggled on because I could not admit this ‘failure’, as I thought of it. If known, my career would be over, I thought. What would my colleagues, my bosses, think of me?”

Can you even begin to imagine the suffering over all the years that he went through?

Take a look at the people around you on the subway or train to work.

In a statistic that I took from the Anxiety and depression association of America:

·        Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.

·        Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only 36.9% of those suffering receive treatment.

This means that on average almost one in five people around you are or have suffered from anxiety in one way or another. That is, to me, an absolutely stunning and depressing number.

Fortunately my friend sought treatment and his anxiety and panic attacks are largely under control. He is one of the ‘eventually’ lucky ones, but what about the almost 37% that are not in treatment? I wonder how they manage to get by on a normal day, how much stress does their body take, can it take before they go down the road to depression and maybe worse?

So what is the answer, apart from making sure that those who can and are willing get treatment? Well, to begin with everyone should start by helping take stress out of the workplace. Treat everyone with respect and kindness. Listen to everyone at meetings without interruption, and avoid swearing and raising voices.

I have found since taking more care after my friends story that everyone is worthy of respect and kind gestures. Everyone has a story, and many are less fortunate than you. Understand if someone is just a little under the weather at work, and if they want to tell, lend a sympathetic ear.

Anxiety and panic attacks may be just a day or an hour away for anyone, even you, so take the time to understand those that suffer, and take the time to relax, exercise and make sure that your body has the time to unwind, along with your brain.