Was talking to a couple of friends of mine, and we got into this
discussion about anxiety attacks and panic attacks.

Now, am wondering are they basically the same thing? If not, what
differentiates them?
.

I think they are different and I think I've had both.  Panic attacks are
worse.  Just like panic is worse than anxiety.

Anxiety is hiking where you know there could be rattlesnakes.  Panic is when
you are eye to eye with one.

Not really, but usually if I have an anxiety attack, it will at least have
some focus.  I'll be upset, very nervous, probably shaking, maybe some
sweating.  It will be out of all proportion to what I think I'm upset about
and I'll be aware of that.  But I will feel like I have some control.  I
have pills that help (paxil) and I can take one and keep myself calm until
they work.  I used to call them my IRS pills.  Or mother-in-law pills as the
case may be.

A panic attack will involve a very fast pulse, can come flat out of nowhere.
Feel like you can't breathe.  You will feel like you have no control and
they don't have any focus, other than maybe the feeling that you are dying,
even though nothing actually hurts.  At least for me they never last very
long and I don't have them very often.  I really feel for anyone that does.
They leave you feeling completely drained.

Jo

Hey donna,
Panic disorders are usually very acute and include physical
manifestations like palpitations, dizziness, sweating, nausea,
shaking, etc.  A panic disorder (let me try to remember DSMIV  info
without looking it up as I don't have it here) has a different
diagnosis than anxiety disorder.  I think it is 4 attacks in a month
with four of a list of manisfestations like the above list.  (I
remember the four-four thing....)

anxiety disorder does not have to be as acute-can be just
irritability, excessive worry, and insommnia, restlessness, twitching,
headaches,muscle tension.  i believe it usually takes a little longer
for an anxziety diagnosis.

m

Taber's CYCLOPEDIC MEDICAL DICTIONARY - Editon 19

Anxiety -- A vague uneasy feeling of discomfort or dread accompanied by an
autonomic response.

Anxiety attack -- An imprecise term for sudden onset of ansiety, somethimes
accompanied by a sense of imminent danger or impending doom and an urge to
escape.

Anxiety disorder -- Any of a group of mental conditons that include panic
disorder with or without agoraphobia; agoraphobia without panic disorder;
simple (specific) phobia; social phobia; obsessive-compulsive disorder;
posttraumatic stress disorder; acute stress disorder; generalized anxiety
disorder; anxiety caused by a general medical condition; and
substance-induced anxiety disorder.

Panic -- Acute anxiety, terror, or fright that is usually of sudden onset
and may be uncontrollable.

Panic attack -- A discrete periof of intense fear of discomfort that is
accompanied by at least 4 of the following symptoms: palpitations, sweating,
trembling or shaking, sensations of shortness of breath or smoothering,
feeling of choking, chest pain or discomfort, nausea or abdominal distress,
dizziness or lightheadedness, feeling of unreality or being detached from
oneself, feeling of losing control or going crazy, fear of dying,
paresthesias (numbness or tingling sensations), and chills or hot flushes.
The onset is sudden and builds to a peak usually in 10 minutes or less, and
may include a sense of imminent danger of impending doom and an urge to
escape.

Panic disorder -- An anxiety disorder characterized by panic attacks (e.g.,
agoraphobia with panic attacks).

Homosexual panic -- In classic freudian psychiatry, fear, anxiety,
aggression, or psychosis that originates in conflicts that arise from an
attraction to members of one's own gender.

... Chaos, panic, and disorder -- my work here is done.
.

Now my smart-a.s reply.  <VBEG>

Anxiety is what a groom feels BEFORE the wedding.

Panic is what he senses AFTER the wedding.

... Don't panic... Don't panic... Don't panic.... All right, NOW PANIC!!!

There's evidence to indicate that depression and anxiety are (or can be)
related disorders. Panic disorders can be present in both or on their
own. Anxiety feels like crap and disrupts ones life...panic makes you
feel the fear of imminent death (that's not a diagnostic description,
just an 'in laymen's terms' description).

Ari

As I understand it, and from my own experience, they can be used
interchangeably.  If they're any different at all, I'd say the anxiety
symptoms start first, and if one cannot get control of them, they may become
panic attacks (which are very scary and makes one feel you are dying).
Nanny

Was talking to a couple of friends of mine, and we got into this
discussion about anxiety attacks and panic attacks.

Now, am wondering are they basically the same thing? If not, what
differentiates them?
.
.
.

Donna G.
.
.
.
ANGELS EXIST, but some times, since they don't all have wings, we call
them FRIENDS......