First let me say that anxiety attacks and panic attacksare...
One and the Same! I hate it when my wife has an anxiety attack...
but now she`s learned to control them.
And I know what causes it.
She'll get in a heated argument over practically nothing with my teenage son, and frustrated, her heart starts pumping like mad to the point when she's about to pass out.
Sometimes it can be stress over money...
or her sisters...
etc.
As for me, I get them too...
except my heart doesn't pound like crazy, it pounds hard, unsteady beats.
I feel like I'm about to have aheart attack.
What brings them on? Well, now I understand my wife since it is me who's having the heated arguments now.
Plus the finances doesn't help either! Anxiety attacks or panic attacks are caused by high anxiety..
..
brought on by stress.
But, what exactly is anxiety? Understanding how anxiety crops up will help you defeat anxiety attacks.
One of the biggest myths surrounding anxiety attacks is that it is harmful and can lead to a number of various life-threatening conditions.
Well, I'm not to sure that's a myth because at times I truly feel I'm having a heart attack.
Anxiety is defined as a state of apprehension or fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined threat, event, or situation.
It is one of the most common human emotions experienced by people at some point in their lives.
So true! You see I also realized that it was not so much the heated argument as it was the anticipation of the heated argument.
Do you understand? In fact, I was so anticipating this heated argument that I actually believe I might have caused it instead of right away diffusing it.
Now do you understand? I am sure most of you have heard of the fight/flight response as an explanation for one of the root causes of anxiety attacks.
Have you made the connection between this response and the unusual sensations you experience during and after a panic attack episode? In essence, anxiety is a response to a danger or threat or an anticipation of things to come...
when in reality that thing is almost always in your own mind and non-existent.
It is your defensive response kicking in because all of its effects are aimed toward either fighting or fleeing from the danger or avoiding the heated argument.
Thus, the sole purpose of anxiety is to protect the individual from harm.
This may seem ironic given that you no doubt feel your anxiety is actually causing you great harm...
perhaps the most significant of all the causes of anxiety attacks / panic attacks.
However, the anxiety that the fight/flight response created was vital in the daily survival of our ancient ancestors-when faced with some danger, an automatic response would take over that propelled them to take immediate action such as attack or run.
Even in today's hectic world, this is still a necessary mechanism.
It comes in useful when you must respond to a real threat within a split second.
Anxiety is a built-in mechanism to protect us from danger.
That being said, I suggest you tell yourself that it's not worth it!