Panic attacks can be incredibly frightening. They can happen anywhere at any time, and without any warning at all. Panic attacks, although often very scary, are physically harmless. They can occur at random or after a person is exposed to a particular event that may trigger an attack.

Some people recognize what their triggers are while others have no idea and strive to find out. People experiencing these panic attacks may feel as though they are dying or experience a sense of impending doom that they cannot explain. They may feel as though they are going crazy and as a result want to remove themselves from whatever situation they are in.

When it is a Severe Panic Attack

There are regular panic attacks which are already frightening enough, and then there are the severe panic attack episodes which are even more serious. There are certain symptoms that you may experience at the onset of a severe panic attack, and this includes pounding heartbeat, smothering sensation, tingling numbness of the skin, sweatiness, shakiness, and nausea, just to name a few.

Treatment

Anyone who has experienced a severe panic attack before wants to determine treatment so that they will never have to go through it again. This can be quite tricky, because before you can properly deal with your attacks you are going to have to figure out what it is that is causing them.

Treatment is especially important because most panic attack sufferers will begin avoiding certain situations that they once used to enjoy, and therefore their quality of life will be greatly affected. You need to be serious about your treatment and be dedicated to it. This is definitely a physical condition, but your mind has to be willing and able to handle the situation if you want to see results.

Remember that if you are a severe panic attack sufferer and do not get proper treatment, you may continue to have panic attacks for years, and the more you suffer from this condition the more you will isolate yourself from your friends and family members. You may start avoiding even the most normal situations such as grocery shopping or driving.

You may begin to be unproductive at work and possibly even get fired. This seems very unfair, considering that people who have panic attacks are basically helpless to the condition and are not doing it on purpose.

If your panic attacks are beginning to affect you the best idea is to start talking about it to people, both personal and professional, so that they understand what you are going through and will have more compassion.

To begin to understand panic attack versus psychosis or any other psychological terminology, we must define these terms. “Panic” is a sudden, unreasonable fear. A “panic attack” refers to the effects panic has on the human body. For example, when a person panics, the following physical reactions may occur: racing heart, sweating palms, trembling, feeling unreal or crazy, chest pains, nausea, etc. Panic and panic attacks left untreated can become phobias. A “phobia” is an “intense, unrealistic fear, which can interfere with the ability to socialize, work, or go about everyday life, and that is brought on by an object, event or situation.”

“Psychosis,” on the other hand, is a general term for a break with reality. The literal definition of the term from Greek is “abnormal condition of the soul.” Those experiencing psychosis or psychotic episodes have delusions and/or hallucinations. Psychosis is much different than panic and phobias. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) is the psychiatric guidebook to all mental health disorders and diagnoses. It classifies mental disorders under five separate “Axes.” The following will help differentiate panic attack from psychosis and panic disorder from psychotic episodes.

Panic versus Psychosis

The DSM-IV classifies all major clinical mental disorders on Axis I. This means that both Panic Disorder and Psychotic Disorders are classified on Axis I. However, the criteria needed to obtain these diagnoses are very different. The criteria for Panic Disorder (without agoraphobia) include the following: recurrent panic attacks and at least one month of concern about future attacks, worry about the result of the attack (i.e. looking crazy in public) and change in patterns of behavior related to the panic attacks. True Panic Disorder is not caused by a medical condition or as the result of a substance or medication.

Psychotic Disorder may include any of the following: presence of hallucinations, delusions, a formal thought disorder, or lack of insight. Psychosis can be brought on by organic, or non-psychological conditions, such as neurological disorders, electrolyte imbalances, illnesses such as the common flu, and substance abuse. A simple way to separate panic attack from psychosis is this: panic attacks happen in reality and psychotic episodes are more about un-reality.

The most important difference between Panic and Psychotic Disorders are that panic attacks go hand in hand with Panic Disorder while psychotic episodes occur in the nine different types of Psychotic Disorders. In a panic attack versus psychosis situation, the panic attack sufferer may be better off in that at least he/she is aware of reality and that the panic attack is abnormal.

Those suffering from psychosis may be completely unaware of their surroundings and may have delusions and hallucinate about sights, voices, and smells that do not actually exist. Then again, in a panic attack versus psychosis situation, the psychotic person may be blissfully unaware of the pain they cause others or the embarrassment they cause themselves. Panic attack sufferers live in fear of embarrassing themselves in public by having another attack in which they feel they will lose control, vomit, tremble, or go crazy.