July 30, 2006
PANIC ATTACKS
Unfortunately, I spent Friday evening in Bellevue Hospital's ER with a friend who was experiencing what turned out to be what doctors diagnosed as a panic attack.
It can happen anytime, anywhere — when you're alone, with others, at home, in public, even awakening you from a sound sleep. Suddenly, your heart begins to race, your face flushes and you experience shortness of breath. You feel dizzy, nauseated and out of control. Some people even feel like they're dying.
While panic disorders, or recurring incidents of panic attacks, can be caused by underlying physiological problems, isolated incidents can occur in almost any healthy person. I know many people who've suffered panic attacks over the past decade that can be incredibly terrifying. From my anecdotal observation, they tend to be induced by extended periods of anxiousness about one's job and or lifestyle and then triggered by shorter periods of physical exhaustion and stress. In these one-time incidents, they seem to me like the body and mind cooperating like a circuit breaker, strongly advising a sufferer to slow down, speed up, or simply make some adjustments in how they live.
Tagged:Posted by Lexiphane at July 30, 2006 6:15 AM
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