Anxiety, Panic attacks, and the aftermath of an episode.

I have been dealing with Anxiety for a long time and never actually thought about writing about anxiety before being approached by a friend who requested my help to get through an episode.

Everyone got some anxiety, and it’s important to know the difference between anxiety and an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety causes nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worrying. These disorders affect how we feel and behave and can cause physical symptoms. Mild anxiety is vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety can seriously affect day-to-day living.

When faced with potentially harmful or worrying triggers, feelings of anxiety are not only ordinary but necessary for survival.

Ever since the earliest days of humanity, the approach of predators and incoming danger has set off alarms in the body and allowed an individual to take evasive action. These alarms become noticeable in the form of a raised heartbeat, sweating, and increased sensitivity to surroundings.

A rush of adrenaline in response to danger causes these reactions. This adrenaline boost is known as the ‘fight-or-flight’ response. It prepares humans to confront or flee any threats to safety physically.

For most modern individuals, running from larger animals and imminent danger is a less pressing concern.

Anxieties now revolve around work, money, family life, health, and other crucial issues that demand a person’s attention without necessarily requiring the ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction. That nervous feeling before an important life event or during a difficult situation is a natural echo of the original ‘fight-or-flight’ reaction. It can still be essential to survival — anxiety about being hit by a car when crossing the street, for example, means that a person will instinctively look at both ways to avoid danger.

The duration or severity of an anxious feeling can sometimes be out of proportion to the original trigger, or stressor. Physical symptoms, such as increased blood pressure and nausea, may also become evident. These responses move beyond anxiety into an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety disorders occur when a reaction is out of proportion to what might typically be expected in a situation.

Having recurring intrusive thoughts or concerns.

Excessive anxiety is most commonly triggered by the stress of day-to-day living and any combination of the above. It is usually a response to outside forces, but it is possible that anxious feelings can emerge from a person telling himself or herself the worst will happen.

Panic attacks & The Aftermaths ‘Hangover’ of panic attacks.

A tight, constricted throat, a pressure in your chest that feels as though your lungs are being crushed, clammy palms, an erratic, pulsating heart and a lightheadedness that stops your eyes from focusing correctly; if you’ve been unlucky enough to have had a panic attack or have read any of the many accounts of them online, you probably recognise the symptoms.

I’ve experienced anxiety attacks for as long as I can remember, when rather than merely feeling hot, faint, dizzy and sick in certain situations, my breathing became affected, chest tight, and I finally twigged what was happening to me.

Having a panic attack is stressful as your body is in a fight and flight state. You may experience symptoms like:

a racing or pounding heartbeat

dizziness and lightheadedness

feeling that “I can’t catch my breath.”

chest pains or a “heaviness” in the chest

flushes or chills

tingling in the hands, feet, legs, arms

jumpiness, trembling, twitching muscles

sweaty palms, flushed face

terror

fear of losing control

fear of a stroke that will lead to disability

fear of dying

fear of going crazy

And these attacks can keep on happening as long as the anxiety stressor (cause of the anxiety) is still ongoing. When it is finally over. Some feel a releif. You can finally relax. Others who have had a more severe anxiety attack might have to go through the aftermath of the episode. Like an emotional jet lag, the comedown from all those heightened sensations that leaves you feeling a little broken and spaced out.

Even in the aftermath ‘hangover’ state, you can quickly get anxious and also develop a new attack. You have been in a state of fight and flight for a while. Your muscles, your entire body needs time to recover, and that can give you symptoms such as pain in muscles in your body, headaches, tiredness, dizzy, nausea, having a hard time to focus with your eyes or even have a hard time concentrating. You can also have a hard time sleeping and dream the most troubling things as your mind is trying to sort everything.

The most important thing is to remember that your body is recovering from being so tense for so long.

Firstly, keep warm (although if you’re hot and bothered, fresh air will help too). Hyperventilating can make your blood flow less effective and if you’re anything like me, you’ll feel freezing after the attack is finished — and the shakes will only make you feel worse. Much of anxiety is due to a feeling of no control; which is why it’s helpful to remember that our breathing is a bodily function that we can take back control of if it’s out of whack. “Focus on your breathing, such as inhaling, holding for a count of five, and then exhaling,” advises Lucy. And as for all that extra adrenaline you don’t need? “Do something physical, such as go for a walk, to work off all the ‘fight or flight’ responses.” It’s true — all that energy needs to go somewhere, so get it out of you any way that you can for a speedy recovery.

Your body might feel physically exhausted from all the tension, too. During times of high anxiety we tend to tense our muscles up — it’s part of our defense mechanism — and it might be that your muscles are sore after an anxiety attack.

Focusing on the short term, getting through the day step by step is a helpful coping mechanism in itself, but of course prolonged anxiety or regular panic attacks can have longer lasting effects too.

Anxiety can cause sleepless nights, which impairs our ability to function. It can even make you so frightened of having an anxiety attack in public that you start to become withdrawn, avoiding social situations or particular places, or even being frightened to leave your room or your home. People who often experience panic attacks often also suffer digestive problems due to the fact that blood is constantly being pumped to areas other than the stomach.

I hope this can help you to understand how you are feeling and how you can recover the best way possible.