There are many myths out there about the way anxiety effects are health. One of those myths is the ever popular “Anxiety can lead to life threatening conditions.”

What is Anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common emotions that we humans experience, and it is an emotion that everyone at one point or another will experience. Therefore knowing what anxiety is beneficial. Medically defined anxiety is the feeling of apprehension or fear from a real or imagined event, situation or threat.

Unless you suffer from panic attacks then it is unlikely that you will understand the horrific nature of what extreme anxiety can do to you. Imagine feeling completely discombobulated from your surroundings, dizzy, blurred vision, tingling all over your body and feeling breathless and this is only the beginning.

When these sensations occur and people do not understand why, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete control seems very real and naturally very terrifying.

A Root Cause of Panic Attacks – The Fight or Flight Response

Most everyone has heard of the fight or flight response that we humans have as a reason for panic attacks. The question to ask yourself is do you feel a connection between the unusual feelings you experience during your panic attack?

Anxiety, and the ensuing panic attack is a response to a real (or imagined) potentially dangerous situation – its main function is to protect us from danger. Quite ironic perhaps, seeing as the anxiety is actually making us feel very frightened.

Know that the anxiety that we feel during the fight or flight response was a necessity to the survival of our ancient ancestors- so that when they were faced with a danger their automatic response would kick in and force them into action. This is essential even today, and is very useful to us when we are faced with real threats and have a split second to respond.

When confronted with danger, the brain sends signals to the nervous system. It is this system that is responsible for gearing the body up for action and also calms the body down and restores equilibrium. To carry out these two vital functions, the autonomic nervous system has two subsections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The main duty of the sympathetic system is to release adrenaline, this is the messenger in our body that keeps us going. The parasympathetic system then is called into action after a period of time to restore balance to the body once danger is gone. The parasympathetic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that gets us to calm down and relax.

Your Body Wants To Remain Calm

Whenever you use some form of “coping strategy” that you may have been taught for controlling your attacks, it’s the parasympathetic system that you are calling into action. One thing worth remembering is that this system will always be brought into action at some point during your anxiety attacks whether you call it into action or not. It’s a built in protection system we posses which helps us survive.

The next time you have a panic attack you need to remember that it is not possible physically for the anxiety that you are feeling to cause you any bodily harm. The mind might make the feelings go on longer then what your body wanted them to, but balance will return. The fact of the matter is that our bodies are constantly striving to attain balance or homeostasis.

One amazing feature of the fight or flight response is that it can pull blood from other areas of our body and get it to the areas that urgently need it. The body does this by tightening the blood vessels.

If there is a threat of a physical attack what the body will do is constrict the vessels in the skin, fingers, and toes to decrease blood loss and move the blood to the thighs and biceps, areas that need the blood flow to act.

This exact natural bodily reaction is a lot of people feel tingling and even numbness sensations during a panic attack. The problem is that these symptoms are very easy to interpret as a serious health condition like a heart attack.

Respiratory Effects

From my own personal experience, one of the symptoms that frightened me the most was that I was going to suffocate, simply because I just couldn’t get enough air into my lungs. It felt like someone had a strangle hold on my lungs – preventing me from getting deep enough breaths. Fortunately I’m still here to tell the story. And I’m pretty sure no one has ever been reported has having suffocated during an attack. So the good news is that a panic attack won’t make you suffocate – your parasympathetic system will always kick in to calm you down again.

During a panic attack the rate at which we take a breath increases and those breaths are not as deep as they usually are. The rapid shallow breathing serves an important function as it gets more oxygen into our tissues so that they are prepared to act. This type of breathing though is often accompanied by feelings of breathlessness, hyperventilation or the feeling of choking and can also lead to chest pain and tightness.

As that I have experience panic attacks first hand, I can tell you that there were times when I wasn’t sure that my body would be able to slow my breathing down and I would concentrate on getting my breathing under control. Telling myself to take breath in and let it out. With my mingling in trying to gain control and disregard what my body needed, it sent my body into overdrive and intensify the feelings I was trying to overcome. It was not until I began using the technique that I will describe to you shortly that I was able to let my body do what it was designed to do.

One of the less obvious side effects of the increased breathing rate, is that blood flow to your brain actually decreases. Although the decrease is slight, and not dangerous, it can make you feel dizzy and lead to blurred vision, hot flushes and disorientation.

For free tips and advice about dealing with panic attacks visit Wendys site at Conquering Panic Attack Symptoms and claim your free report 7 Steps To Conquer Your Anxiety. Click here to get your own unique version of this article with free reprint rights.

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ng anxiety attacks, may actually benefit or even need some form of anxiety treatment.

There are numerous choices available to those who suffer from anxiety. However, much relies on several factors, including the level or severity of their anxiety, the type, as well as what they feel more comfortable with in the scheme of things. Comfort is an important factor in order to form a routine and a more long-term success rate.

One form of treatment encompasses a more self-help type of approach for those whose anxiety may not be as severe as what others might have. Such approaches can involve such measures as taking time to one’s self in order to relax and have fun, lowering stress factors, taking care of their body and having a proper routine of diet and exercise, asking for help when needed and not taking on more than what they can handle, as well as getting the emotional support that they need.

For those who either react poorly to certain anxiety treatments, or just prefer a drug-free or noninvasive approach, many are opting for treatments that are more along the lines of holistic methods. These forms of treatment may be anything from acupuncture and acupressure to hypnosis, relaxation techniques, or even biofeedback treatment.

There are also treatments for anxiety on a more psychological level such as with behavioral therapy that primarily revolves around exposure and cognitive-behavioral sessions. Cognitive therapy focuses on teaching patients to recognize what triggers their negative and possibly irrational thinking when regarding their behavioral patterns, as well as teaching them to control these thoughts and patterns until the anxiety diminishes over time. Exposure therapy circles around having patients confront their fears in a safe and controlled environment, so that they are able to work on controlling their fear in time.

In cases of needing professional help, this is often suggested for those who have extreme anxiety attacks or frequent cases of anxiety symptoms, making it hard for them to cope or function throughout much of their daily lives. A professional may be able to prescribe medications that are designed for anxiety treatment, along with the sound advice of getting behavioral treatment as well for better overall results.

Anxiety can be very scary and in some cases dangerous too. This is why there are so many people looking for Anxiety treatment.

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I’m anxiety disorder symptom free, and you can be too!

If you’re sick and tired of being afraid of every social event, nervous about every chance meeting of a casual acquaintance or just plain scared to even face another human being or everyday life situation, please take the time to read my story.

Because thanks to a simple FREE 7 day ecourse I was able to start on my road to personal freedom and I want to share my journey with you!

My name’s Mark and I’m a printer by trade. It’s not a bad way to make a living, but it wasn’t always easy. As a matter of fact, when I was younger I really wanted to sell insurance or new cars because I thought that’s where the money was at. It seemed like a great lifestyle.

I actually went to a training session for insurance salesmen. Being a young man, raising a family on a fly boy’s (the lowest rung on the offset printing ladder) pay, and not having much money to work with, I dressed in what I thought was a decent suit and thought I’d check it out.

Once I got there, I was seated at a large conference table with about a dozen other people. I looked around and noticed how nice everyone else looked. How much better they looked than me!

That’s when it hit me. I don’t belong here! I got nervous and started to sweat like crazy. When I realized how badly I was sweating, it made me even more nervous. I actually had to get up in the middle of the presentation by the trainer and excuse myself because I thought I was going to pass out!

I knew right then that I’d never be an insurance salesman. But I did get an interview to be a car salesman after that, and I actually got hired. But before I could even start I got scared and started doubting myself. I eventually called back the dealer and told them I couldn’t take the job for some stupid reason.

And so my life went, missing all the opportunities that I was too afraid to take advantage of. Missed concerts because I was afraid of crowds, missed parties because I was afraid I’d forget somebody’s name. Just always afraid of something!

And why? I don’t know. Just couldn’t explain it.

I eventually went to a psychologist (who, by the way, told me that growing up he always wanted to be a guy like me – wearing a black leather jacket and blue jeans!). What I found out was that I had a social anxiety disorder.

Okay. Now I knew what the problem was. But what to do about it? Zoloft!

It actually worked great for about five years. It took me off the roller coaster (happy one minute, pissed off the next) but it made me feel sorta dead inside. No emotions at all. I really didn’t care what I said to my wife or friends because I wasn’t worried about hurting their feelings. I wasn’t worried about anything!

But I knew I didn’t want to stay on a happy pill for the rest of my life. I felt a little weak having to depend on a tiny little pill (Zoloft is a teeny, tiny little pill!), so I needed an alternative.

Then one night my wife was surfing the internet and found a site that looked as if it was made just for me. I was at work and when I got home she told me to check it out. I read the page and couldn’t believe how much it hit home! Then I read through the testimonials and thought “HOLY S#!T! These people are (were) just as bad as me!

But not anymore. Thank God! I am anxiety disorder symptom free. Finally.

Click here to get your FREE 7 day mini course on how to beat anxiety!

By using this Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) program, I’m happy (Yes – HAPPY!) to say that I am anxiety free. I have been able to re-program my minds reaction to the trigger of anxiety attacks simply by knowing what triggers these attacks. And it’s pretty easy to pinpoint what your real fears are when you just sit down and do a little self examination.

You’ll learn how to instantly turn off the sense of extreme fear, and gain control of your mind and body. This alone is the most liberating feeling in the world! When you finally realize that fear and anxiety no longer have a tight grip on you, you actually feel lighter!

I wish I had this info years ago. I like to think that I would have been a great insurance salesman and probably would have made a lot more money in the process. But life is funny and we end up where we’re supposed to be I guess.

But no matter where you are in your life, if you’re suffering from any anxiety disorder symptom or having panic attacks, PLEASE do yourself a favor and at the very least take a few minutes to check out the free 7 day mini course from Joe Barry on how to beat anxiety.

Click here to get your FREE 7 day mini course on how to beat anxiety!

The free information offered through this course is probably better than most info you’ll pay for! You owe it to yourself to discover the life changing information Joe has to offer.

Anyway, that’s my story in a nutshell. I’m definitely happy to say that my life has changed for the better and I’m enjoying myself for a change instead of dreading every new experience. Don’t let any anxiety disorder symptom keep you from living your life!

All the best,

Mark

But whatever type of anxiety disorder you may be suffering from, there are symptoms common to all of them. Here’s a listing of just some of the physical symptoms you may endure:

• Chest pain or discomfort
• Pounding heart, heart feels like it is beating too hard
• Rib or rib cage tightness, pressure, or feeling like a tight band around the rib cage
• Shooting pains, stabbing pains, and odd pressures in the neck, head, or face
• Chronic Fatigue, exhaustion, super tired, worn out
• Dizziness, feeling lightheaded
• Shooting pains in the face, head or scalp
• Sweating, uncontrollable profuse sweating
• Trembling, twitching or shaking
• Decreased or increased sex drive
• Feeling as though you’re choking
• Weak arms, legs or muscles
• Ringing in the ears

However, when you suffer from anxiety and anxiety panic attacks, the symptoms aren’t always physical. There are mental symptoms to contend with too.

Here’s a listing of just some of the possible mental symptoms you may encounter:

• Depression
• Dramatic mood swings
• Feeling like crying for no apparent reason
• Fear of going crazy or losing control
• Difficulty concentrating
• Deja Vu (a feeling like you’ve done or experienced something before)
• Fear of impending doom

When dealing with an anxiety disorder, you must remember that these symptoms are simply in your head! Luckily for you there are ways to combat anxiety!

Click here to get your FREE 7 day mini course on how to beat anxiety!

Anxiety disorder symptoms can be present from an early age or begin suddenly after a triggering event. They are prone to flare up at times of high stress and are frequently accompanied by physiological symptoms such as headache, sweating, muscle spasms, palpitations, and hypertension, which in some cases lead to fatigue or even exhaustion.

Other types of anxiety disorders include, but are not limited to:

• panic disorder -where a person suffers from brief attacks of intense terror and apprehension, often marked by trembling, shaking, confusion, dizziness, nausea, difficulty breathing
• phobia -the single largest category of anxiety disorders which includes all cases in which fear and anxiety is triggered by a specific stimulus or situation. Sufferers typically anticipate terrifying consequences from encountering the object of their fear, which can be anything from an animal to a location to a bodily fluid
• agoraphobia -the specific anxiety about being in a place or situation where escape is difficult or embarrassing
• social anxiety disorder -also known as social phobia – an intense fear of negative public scrutiny or of public embarrassment or humiliation
• obsessive-compulsive disorder -a type of anxiety disorder primarily characterized by repetitive obsessions [distressing, persistent, and intrusive thoughts or images] and compulsions [urges to perform specific acts or rituals])

Anxiety disorders are often found with other mental disorders, particularly clinical depression, which may occur in as many as 60% of people with anxiety disorders. The fact that there is considerable overlap between symptoms of anxiety and depression, and that the same environmental triggers can provoke symptoms in either condition, may help to explain this.

Studies have also indicated that anxiety disorders are more likely among those with family history of anxiety disorders, especially certain types.

If you believe you have one or more anxiety disorder symptom, then it is advisable to seek professional help!

Click here to get your FREE 7 day mini course on how to beat anxiety!