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Anxiety is a recognised mental health condition that impacts the lives of 1 in 4 people worldwide. The WHO puts the figure at a shocking 301 million. Anxiety transcends nations and cultures; it does not discriminate based on age or gender. Anyone at any time in their life can succumb to anxiety.
Those who suffer from anxiety or have experienced an anxiety attack know just how debilitating the condition can be. The reported severity ranges from mild feelings of angst – butterflies in the stomach – to complete overwhelm – a mental meltdown that can be incapacitating. Some people suffer so severely that they are unable to function physically. For them, seemingly simple tasks such as doing the weekly shop can induce an insurmountable sense of dread.
Sadly, anxiety disorder can make a person’s life miserable. The authors of How To Master Anxiety go so far as to say that, if left unchecked, ‘anxiety can quickly become as disabling as any chronic physical illness.’
But anxiety doesn’t just put a dampener on a sufferer’s psychological state. In his important book Determined, Rober M. Sapolsky explores research showing the havoc anxiety wreaks on the structure of our brains. ‘Persistent anxiety,’ Sapolsky warns, ‘results in the atrophy’ of the ‘prefrontal cortex.’ This can lead to what he calls a ‘vicious cycle’ where the prefrontal cortex loses its power to cool anxious flare-ups.
Melancholy though that is, it’s not the end of the story. Irrespective of how severely a person suffers with anxiety, there is hope. Mental health practitioners who specialise in anxiety disorder have developed a range of methods that can help manage the disorder. But that’s something we’ll discuss another time.
The purpose of this article is to outline a range of common anxiety attack symptoms. Understanding the associative symptoms of an anxiety attack is helpful for two reasons.
Why we should be aware of anxiety attack symptoms
First, many people suffer the symptoms but don’t realise it’s anxiety. They may ascribe feelings of angst or a panic attack to personal weakness. Perhaps they’ll brush the butterflies aside with a self-deprecating remark such as ‘I’m just being stupid’ or ‘I’m foolishly overreacting.’
Of course, they’re neither stupid nor overreacting, and telling themselves these mistruths is unhelpful. It can be liberating to learn that anxiety is biologically embedded in our brain’s limbic system and is an evolutionary adaptation that has assured the survival of our species. Or as the good people at Human Givens colourfully put it, feeling anxious ‘is part of our survival kit – none of us would live long if anxiety didn’t stop us taking foolhardy risks.’
The second reason why it’s helpful to be aware of anxiety attack symptoms has to do with how this knowledge can empower us. Only when we identify ourselves as suffering from anxiety can we seek out and implement the appropriate interventions. Not so with anxiety disorder. Researchers have revealed a broad range of methodologies for effectively treating anxiety.
But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s turn our attention to six of the most common anxiety attack symptoms.
Anxiety attack symptoms
Though no two people suffer the same symptoms in the same way or same severity, there are commonalities that are characteristic of an anxiety attack. These characteristics are most frequently reported by anxiety sufferers to express their experience of an attack. So, it might be the case that you are unable to identify fully with the following symptoms. However, you may be able to spot some similarities in the brief symptom descriptions. The insights gleaned will better enable you to identify anxiety-provoking triggers, preempt a potential attack, and implement strategies to self-regulate.
Before we progress any further, it should be stated that there is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of or feel embarrassed about when suffering an anxiety attack. I believe it is important to emphasis that point because another rarely discussed post-attack symptom is shame.
People feel ashamed about their anxiety for a myriad reasons, but they shouldn’t. As the authors of How To Master Anxiety reassuringly tell us, the ‘symptoms are perfectly normal aspects of the fight-or-flight response that we unconsciously set in motion whenever we feel that we are under threat.'
Anxiety attack symptoms 1: Palpitations of the heart
Perhaps the earliest and most salient sign of an anxiety attack is a quickening of the heart rate. Sufferers generally describe the sensation as a ‘pounding’, ‘thudding’ or ‘knocking’ at their chest. Heart palpitations can be unsettling and, in severe cases, have been misinterpreted as the onset of a myocardial infarction.
While this should never be ruled out, of course, in the context of anxiety, a sudden elevation in resting heart rate is an evolutionary survival strategy. When the brain perceives a threat (such as a sabertoothed tiger, to use the obligatory example) it mobilises the physiological systems in preparedness to fight or flight (i.e. run – really fast, or at least faster than the person to your right).
In his brilliant book, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Robert M. Sapolsky (who we briefly met above) reminds us that the fight-flight (and now freeze) response is ‘biologically hardwired’ into the brain’s limbic system. It’s been there since time immemorial and without it, our species would’ve been dodos to the sabertoothed tiger long before bloggers got to talk about it.
Even in our cottonwool-coated modern age, where polite pen-wielding bureaucrats have replaced sabers, the fight-flight system is still indispensable. Stand too close to the ledge of a tall building and it’ll fire up at the click of a finger. The frustrating thing for us moderns is that even thoughts set the alarm bells ringing! Hence the reason why Professor Steve Peters, author of The Chimp Paradox, likens the limbic system to an irrational chest-pumping primate. Because it hasn’t developed the requisite intelligence to differentiate fact from fiction.
Related: Reduce stress and anxiety with Nature Therapies
Anxiety attack symptoms 2: Quickening of breath
We saw above the role that an increase in heart rate plays as part of the fight-flight process. When our heart rate goes up a greater volume of oxygenated blood is delivered to the working muscles. Thus providing them with more fuel for fighting or flighting.
This would be rendered useless if our breathing rate didn’t match the increased work rate of the cardiovascular system. After all, it’s the respiratory system that extracts oxygen from the atmosphere and infuses it into the blood which the heart then pumps around the body.
To match the increased work rate of the heart, our breathing rate must also increase. And because an anxiety attack triggers the fight-flight response, many sufferers will experience a quickening of breath.
(But it is the breath that could be one of our most powerful allies for managing and mitigating this and other anxiety attack symptoms. Focusing intently on controlling the ebb and flow of our respiration activates the parasympathetic nervous system which disarms the threat centres of the brain. Furthermore, recent research has shown that ‘mindfulness-based interventions’ can ‘reduce anxiety,’ improve mood and provide us with the tools to attenuate ‘physiological reactivity’ such as ‘sweating and rapid heartbeat,’ (The Stress-Proof Brain).
Related: Stress | A Complete Guide
Anxiety attack symptoms 3: Sweating profusely
Having increased both heart and breathing rates, our body is preparing the body for the rumble in the jungle or the Stone Age equivalent of a HIIT workout. Whichever one of these strenuous activities is selected, core temperature will hit the roof. That’s if the body doesn’t let off some steam and quick.
Short on aircon, coolant in a can, and cold showers, instead evolution equipped our ancestors with a clever way to regulate core temperature. Sweating is a surprisingly effective way to evaporate heat and keep our bodies at a pleasant 36.5ºC. (It’s surprising how finetuned our physiology is. A mere 3º increase in core temperature can ‘cook cells in the brain and elsewhere.’)
Hard though it is to believe, sweating is hugely advantageous and is accredited for our capacity to cover vast distances. Professor Daniel Liberman of Harvard University argues that ‘the most vital and unique adaptation that enables humans to go the extra mile is our ability to perspire profusely,’ (Exercised: The Science of Physical Activity, Rest and Health).
Anxiety attack symptom 4: Nausea and dry mouth
The moment fight or flight mode has been triggered the brain begins shutting off power to all unnecessary functions. One of those functions is digestion. When we’re in an emergency situation, the last thing the body needs to waste energy on is churning the contents of our stomach into compost.
(Another function that faces power cuts is our sex drive. This explains why long-term sufferers of anxiety (and stress) experience a decline in libido. If it’s a toss-up between self-preservation or procreation, evolution has wisely selected the former as a species will not long prevail if it prioritises sex over survival. As the saying goes, live to love make another day.)
The surfeit of energy this body-wide shutdown liberates is directed to the extremities – legs and arms. There it will be used to – you guessed it – fight or flight.
Anxiety attack symptoms 5: The sudden need to relieve oneself
I always thought the justification for this symptom was somewhat farfetched. It goes like this. While sitting around the campfire roasting nuts and spinning yarns (or just grunting), the sudden appearance of Mr Sabertoothed Tiger would’ve shocked our poor ancestors into a state of fight or flight.
All the physiological responses outlined above would switch on in an instant. Now panting furiously, hearts pounding at their chests, stomachs doing somersaults, those who chose to run would be quicker if they could, shall we say, ‘lighten the load.’
But unlike the wily iguana, we can’t shed some ballast by discarding a limb. So – the theory goes – we evolved the next best superpower: the ability to discard the ballast in our bowels and bladder.
It has been argued that the expulsion of waste is not an evolutionary-inspired attempt to improve our power-to-weight ratio. Actually, it is more likely an embarrassing by-product of the power shutdown. As with the digestive system, when blood is diverted to the arms and legs, ‘the kidneys and intestines and bladder stop working, causing the muscles at the opening of the anus and bladder to relax,’ (How To Master Anxiety).
Anxiety attack symptoms 6: Shortness of breath
The final common anxiety attack symptom that we shall consider is for many the most traumatic. The sensation of shortness of breath, feeling as though you are choking or being smothered, can induce panic and exacerbate the symptoms.
What’s more, these horrible sensations are not a figment of the imagination – which makes them all the more disquieting.
But as with all the anxiety attack symptoms explored throughout this blog, there is a scientific – thus rational – reason that accounts for why the body responds this way.
I’ll save you the specifics, but it has to do with the sudden influx of oxygen that occurs when our breathing rate spikes. Oxygen is a sticky molecule. In high quantities and without sufficient carbon dioxide, it can coagulate in the blood. This then makes us feel ‘‘oxygen-starved’ even though we are actually taking plenty in,’ (How To Master Anxiety).
The good news is that the balance is often restored soon after the anxiety attack. The other good news is that, though the feeling is unpleasant, it poses no threat to life.
Conclusion
That brings us to the end of this review of six anxiety attack symptoms. Hopefully, this resource will be of use by enabling you to identify or relate to the symptoms outlined.
But the primary purpose of this blog is that of reassurance. To reiterate the point made by Human Givens, ‘It’s only human to feel anxious … it is part of our survival kit’ and ‘none of us would live long if anxiety didn’t stop us taking foolhardy risks.’
If it’s only human to feel anxious, the attending symptoms are only natural physiological responses. Ultimately, they are no less deeply rooted than the biological mechanisms that drive sleep and hunger.
Once we understand this, once the cause is demystified, and symptoms are seen for what they are, only then can we breathe a sigh of relief in the knowledge that we are not weak, not flawed, and have nothing to feel ashamed for.
About Dr Laura Allen –
A Chartered Psychologist & Integrative Therapist, Dr. Allen specialises in a broad range of therapeutic methods. She is a published author of numerous research papers in the field of Positive Psychology. Dr. Allen works one-to-one with clients and supervises other practitioners. She is also a proud member of the British Psychological Society assessment team supporting psychologists in training.
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