The Symptoms of Stress are the Physical Symptoms of Anxiety
The symptoms of anxiety of post traumatic stress syndrome can be immediate and can strike without warning. Sometimes they feel like panic attacks because they are panic attacks. These symptoms of stress represent physical changes in the body and brain.
Physical Symptoms of Anxiety During Panic Attacks
The Heart: One of the scariest symptoms is chest pain, tightness and pressure. Your heart may beat very hard or fast and feel like it could jump out of your chest. Or you may experience palpitations, where it skips a beat or two and feels like it’s flopping around.
The Body: Excessive sweating from hot or cold flashes can leave you drenched for no apparent reason. You might feel a trembling deep inside or you may be unable to control the outward shaking of your body. Numbness or a burning sensation is common and your hands and feet might tingle with pins and needles.
Respiration: When you feel like you can’t breath, it’s “normal” to panic. Therefore, this is one of the most frightening symptoms of anxiety for people who suffer from post traumatic stress syndrome. You’re very conscious of each breath you take and although your rate of breathing increases, it also becomes more shallow. Catching your breath is difficult and the sensation of feeling smothered or suffocating is common.
The Head: Hyperventilation (over-breathing) results in dizziness and lightheadedness. Your vision may blur or you might have ringing in your ears. You could feel unsteady as if things are whirling around or as though your head is swimming and this adds to the fear that you might faint or pass out.
The Throat: Muscles in your throat contract which leads to a feeling of being choked or strangled. Your mouth is dry and it may feel as if there’s a lump stuck in the back of your throat that stops your ability to swallow.
The Stomach: Butterflies or tightness as if you’ve been punched is common in the abdominal area, along with feeling bloated or nauseous. Painful diarrhea and a lack of appetite may leave a tinny or metallic taste in your mouth.
The Mind: It’s difficult to concentrate and your thoughts are running at a hundred miles an hour. Disoriented and confused, it feels like you’re living in a time warp where the world around you isn’t real (derealization). You may feel cut off from your surroundings as if you’re underwater and everything is out of reach (depersonalization). Thoughts of having a heart attack, losing your mind, dying, and becoming trapped are all very common fears for anyone experiencing anxiety and panic attacks.
So what is the difference between the anxiety symptoms of post traumatic stress syndrome and panic attacks anxiety symptoms? There is often overlap because post traumatic stress syndrome often includes numerous panic attacks among many stress symptoms and depression symptoms. Panic attacks are usually brief in duration and are part of other syndromes. Think of panic attacks as a special cluster of anxiety symptoms.
This topic is vast and hugely important for anyone who wants to understand themselves and others. How can this be? So many people have never been through traumas. Why then is it so important? It’s so important because post traumatic stress syndrome has certain patterns of thought and feelings that often hold a key to understanding our more perplexing behavior. This seems to hold true with moderate “traumas” that we don’t usually think of as traumas.
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