DESCRIBE AN ANXIETY ATTACK? NOT A PANIC ATTACK!

[ThyroidObsessed]

Hi all so im wanting to check whether its normal to feel this way..

so when i have an anxiety attack it is hell, what happens is i feel detached and like my brain has been taken over and sheer panic comes over me like im going crazy and i cant think straight and that im going to have some sort of mental breakdown and need putting in hospital.., also i have this near constant pressure feeling in my left temple its not painful really.. my brain feels like its going crazy on and off near all the time its hell!!... also i dont have all the symptoms people explain like cant breath and think your gonna die i do not have them symptoms at all i just feel like im going crazy instead..

i do also have a underactive thyroid too that coincedently started playing up when my anxiety and depression started so i do think its linked massively, and im hoping once my thyroid is under control then i will feel normal again!!

[Z2000]

Hi, everyone’s symptoms are very different, I would say that most of what you are describing are normal experiences however if you are at all worried about it or feel that you could cause harm to yourself or others then please contact a doctor. Anxiety is a horrible experience that everyone in their lives face and this forum is here to help you and make sure you don’t feel alone :). There are many different coping strategies that you should research too to ensure you are doing the best you can to cope with it. Wish you well, it does get better x

[HearYou]

What IS the feeling of a Panic Attack and an Anxiety Attack??? IS THERE AN ACTUAL DIFFERENCE? CAUSE? RESOLUTION?

That is a very good question. Both are not a great feeling, but is there someone who can describe the difference without a 500 word long, no punctuation-type-type of explanation? Please no Google based explanation.

Please, no self-experience story. Have enough of my own. Am going through depression and sleep issues due to some changes in meds, and maybe is a good time to look at the opposite.....anxiety and panic.

Honest, would appreciate....may help when one occurs. Thanks, as I know neither is NORMAL, while the situation when one has one may APPEAR NORMAL. (No thyroid issues involved.)

Many thanks.

[Agora1]

Hi, long story short there is a difference between a Panic Attack and an Anxiety Attack. A Panic Attack comes on abruptly and for no known reason. Very intense symptoms that seem to go away as fast as they came 10-15 minutes. An Anxiety Attack is more provoked by stress and situations around you. They come about more slowly building until they reach a peak and then kind of stay there, making you fear more and having it continue for minutes to hours to sometimes days. Either way they are both frightening and wearing.

[reinagrace]

Hi ThyroidObsessed , trying to clarify what your question is- if you're asking if it's "normal" compared to everyone else here on this site- yes, for an anxious person ,this is similar to what we experience, though people experience anxiety and panic attacks differently. But to compare to what is "normal" in highly functional healthy people- well the goal in moving towards health is that we can experience these symptoms less frequently and with less intensity. As for panic attack vs. anxiety attack,as a reply to HearYou also-- for me the difference is i can control one and not the other . i can calm an anxiety attack (dizziness, head pressure, nausea, overwhelmed with worry, fearful thoughts-feeling like i will faint) by deep breathing, prayer, calling a friend or crisis line-- whereas i can not calm down a panic attack unless i take a pill, it is too out of control and my heart very abruptly suddenly starts beating out of control rapidly, instant dry mouth, along with my limbs stiffening starting to convulse like i'm gonna have a seizure,hands shaking to where i almost can't control my fingers-- and there's nothing i can do to stop it except take a pill. supposedly the medical difference is that the panic attack is sudden while the anxiety attack has a stressor- but i can always pinpoint that even in the panic attacks there was a stressor- it was subconscious, something could have happened 12 hours earlier that triggered deep emotions but in the busy-ness of the day, my brain pushed back the experience- then hours later at 3 a.m. my body gets a full-blown panic attack "out-of-the-blue" but i think it can be traced back to the trigger, it always can. Prayers for all