Psychologist Zhavnerov called the fear of choking or fainting a symptom of a panic attack.
A person experiences a panic attack when he is afraid of his current state because of possible adverse consequences, explains psychologist Pavel Zhavnerov, an anxiety disorder specialist, in a conversation with Lenta.ru. He listed the signs of a panic attack and told how to get rid of such a condition.
What is a panic attack?
Now if a person experiences panic in five directions, it indicates that he is having a panic attack. The first is fear of the heart: a heart attack, a stroke, a stop. The second is the experience of possibly fainting. The third is the fear of suffocation. The fourth is panic due to a possible loss of control over oneself. And the fifth is the fear that people think badly of me, that I am crazy or not myself.
He noted that a person can be afraid of one of these consequences or of several at once. All other experiences, according to Zhavnerov, are not a panic attack, because they relate to fear of the future.
Some people think that a panic attack lasts for several hours or all day, but in fact they confuse this condition with anxiety, the psychologist noted. A panic attack is a short-term attack that reaches the maximum level of panic and then decreases again. It takes a maximum of 15 minutes.
Physiological manifestations
A panic attack is accompanied by a high level of anxiety, as well as a number of symptoms in the body, which are caused by the release of adrenaline, according to the psychologist. According to him, it is because of these symptoms that a person is afraid of adverse consequences.
Symptoms include palpitations, dizziness, tightness in the head, ringing in the ears, blurred vision, body numbness and tingling, dry mouth, lump in throat, shortness of breath, discomfort, chest tightness, pressure surges, body tension when throwing sometimes in heat, sometimes in cold, sweating more, trembling in the body, discomfort in the abdomen, urge to go to the toilet, a feeling of weakness and unsteady gait, a feeling of unreality of what is happening
Of course, all these symptoms do not occur at the same time, Zhavnerov explained, and since each person has their own physiological characteristics, they experience a certain set of symptoms. For some, a panic attack is accompanied by dizziness and weakness, while for others it is accompanied by an increased heart rate, shortness of breath and tension in the body or tremors in the hands.
How to get rid of panic attacks?
A panic attack is a result of heightened anxiety, and in order to eliminate panic attacks, you need to work with a specialist on the anxiety that a person is experiencing.
That is, in effect, he should simply stop being afraid of the consequences he fears during a panic attack. Once a person is convinced that these conditions are safe, he will no longer have panic attacks,” the psychologist specified. And already in the next stage, work is underway to reduce the level of anxiety.
Earlier, WHO spokesman Paloma Kuchi said that about half a million Ukrainian citizens who have fled to Poland need psychological help and that 30,000 refugees have serious psychological problems.
Source: Lenta
