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Anxiety Versus Panic Attacks

August 27th, 2011 | Add a Comment

Anxiety Versus Panic Attacks – Spot The Difference

For many people these two terms are interchangeable, but this is quite wrong; when looking at anxiety versus panic attacks one must keep in mind the question of degree. But not only. The differences don’t stop there. When asked “what are anxiety attacks” I must give technical ansanxietywer: there is no such thing as an “anxiety attack” – at least if you consult the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association. Instead the term “panic disorder” is used to describe pretty much the same thing. Panic and anxiety attacks are close cousins and the term “anxiety disorder panic” is frequently used – and abused – by those who can’t quite see the difference between the two. To fully appreciate the difference between anxiety versus panic attacks consider this: if anxiety is the egg, panic attack is the chicken, sometimes fully grown!

Anxiety Versus Panic Attacks – It’s a Matter of Scale

The difference between the two conditions is essentially a matter of degree. Where there’s uneasiness and irritability in “anxiety”, there’s trembling and nausea in “panic.” Where there’s muscle tension and strained sleep in anxiety, you get heart palpitations and dizziness in panic. While shortness of breath or a sense of fatigue, difficulty concentrating or restlessness describe anxiety very well, they’re a far cry from what one experiences during a panic attack: numbness, hot flushes, fear or death, a sense of unreality, lightheadedness, chest pains… and the list goes on. The question of what causes panic attacks or anxiety is a whole different issue. The widespread psychiatric view is that this is a physical condition which must therefore be treated with drugs. The position I personally and emphatically favor is that this is a purely psychological condition which has a psychological root and can thus be successfully treated with the right kind of psychotherapy. In the case of anxiety versus panic attacks anxiety is the stream, and panic attack is the waterfall.

Anxiety Versus Panic Attacks – Is There A Cure?

While there is a very superficial similarity between the two conditions, much as in the case of the chicken and the egg, or the stream and the waterfall, one precedes the other. And at the risk of straining this chicken and egg analogy, there is a closed loop here as well, because frequent panic attacks definitely lead to continuous feelings of anxiety. The question of anxiety versus panic attacks is less relevant, however, than the question of what can be done about either of these disorders. Both these conditions can be extremely debilitating, and panic attacks can feel like death itself. Fortunately, “cures” are readily available, even if in this litigious society that we have created for ourselves the word “cure” can easily get a doctor into trouble! But if I were to say “treatments are available” you’d miss the point. “Treatments” with psychiatric drugs can take months even years – and rarely if ever do they result in a complete eradication of either of these conditions. More often than not, the patient will additionally suffer from very real side-effects. Sometimes, these side-effects can be far worse than the disease itself. There are also long-term “psychotherapy” techniques which, while infinitely more benign, only provide a measure of comfort to the sufferer and not an actual “cure.” Currently, the most effective method of combating both these conditions is Root Cause Hypnotherapy. The ease with which anxiety and panic attacks yield to this methodology is extremely impressive, especially when one considers the wide-spread focus on the “incurable nature” of these conditions. When considering the question of anxiety versus panic attacks, one must also entertain the notions of “treatments” versus “cures”.

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