What is the difference between anxiety and Panic?

[venusbluejeans]

What is the difference between anxiety and Panic?


A lot of people describe these as the same things but in reality they are totally different

The dictionary defines the words as follows....

Anxiety - a state of uneasiness or tension caused by apprehension of possible future misfortune, danger, etc

Panic - Sudden uncontrollable fear or anxiety, often causing wildly unthinking behaviour.

Anxiety

Anxiety is a worry, a concern something that plays on your mind, something that you cannot get out of your head…..something that makes you so anxious you may then experience physical symptoms. This may even be a subconscious thought, so you are not even sure why you are anxious.

These symptoms may include
dizziness
nausea
Diarrhea
headache
drowsiness and tiredness
pins and needles
irregular heartbeat (palpitations)
muscle aches and tension
dry mouth
excessive sweating
shortness of breath
stomach ache
excessive thirst
frequent urinating
painful or missed periods
difficulty falling or staying asleep (insomnia)

also if you start becoming anxious about a particular thing your health for example then you may then develop symptoms of the thing you are worried about causing you to become more anxious.


If you do suffer from anxiety then this may then lead to you suffering from panic and panic attacks.

Panic Attacks

Panic attacks are a sudden and intense period of severe anxiety. They will start abruptly and you will have anxiety symptoms in a crescendo until the height of your panic attack which is usually about 10 minutes after it has started.

These panic symptoms can include...

palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate
sweating
trembling or shaking
sensations of shortness of breath or smothering
feeling of choking
chest pain or discomfort
nausea or abdominal distress
feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
feelings of unreality (derealization) or being detached from oneself (depersonalization)
fear of losing control or going crazy
fear of dying
numbness or tingling sensations
chills or hot flushes

You have to remember that no matter how long the attack lasts they DO pass, but during the attack you may feel that it will never end.

The Difference?

As you can see the main difference between anxiety and panic is the severity and the duration of the ‘attack’. Anxiety may be with you 24/7 and the symptoms may range from mild to severe, whereas Panic will be short lived and the symptoms will almost certainly be severe.

[Magic]

Thank you Venus.:hugs:

[spottitchsam]

many thanks.very informative.

[BobbyDog]

Thank you very informative, I have most of those symptoms.

[ricardo]

That's a pretty clear definition Emms :hugs:


I doubt there is anyone who never has had some anxiety in their life reagardless if you gauge it from 1 to 10 and anxiety and sress is unfortunately becoming part and parcel of the everyday world that we now live in.

[Dazza123]

My panic attacks often last a lot longer than 10 minutes, it usually depends how long my diazepam takes to kick in.

[Pipkin]

To add to Emmz' post, people often wonder what the difference is between panic attacks and panic disorder:

Panic attacks are as described by Emmz. People with anxiety disorders such as GAD, OCD and PTSD can suffer from panic attacks.

Panic disorder is identified by the fear of future panic attacks, and avoidance behaviour to stop them happening. This may lead to agoraphobia where there is a fear of having an attack and being unable to escape.

It's important to remember that most people fit into more than one category, with a primary and secondary disorder. For example, many GAD sufferers also suffer from depression and vice versa.

Pip

[AuntieMoosie]

That's a great post, thank you Emmz:D

I often have what I call "low lying anxiety" which means that I have many days where I feel edgy and with a mild anxiety going on in the background :)

My anxiety obviously always peaks when I'm out because I'm agoraphobic, but thankfully due to CBT4PANIC and the exercises that I'm doing, I haven't gone into a "full blown" panic attack for a few months now:D

Like you have explained, there is a big difference between the two :)