Panic attacks and anxiety attacks are both unpleasant, and the terms are often used interchangeably. They aren’t quite the same, however. As a rule of thumb, panic attacks tend to be more intense and don’t always have an obvious trigger, while anxiety attacks occur in response to a stressor.
In a panic attack:
- Symptoms usually appear abruptly
- Symptoms can be intense, disruptive and lead to a sense of detachment
- Symptoms usually have a trigger, but not always
- They usually fade in intensity after a few minutes
In an anxiety attack:
- Symptoms can build gradually over time
- They vary in intensity from mild to debilitating
- They’re always a response to a perceived threat
- They may persist for longer spans of time
Panic disorders are a type of anxiety disorder, and they come with their own set of symptoms. These include a rapid heart rate, dizziness, nausea, hot flashes, chest pain, shaking, shortness of breath, sweating, numbness in the extremities and stomach aches.
When you’re experiencing a panic attack, you might feel like you don’t have any control or have an intense fear that you’re about to die. You might also feel like you’re not in your body, instead feeling detached and emotionally removed.
Anxiety attacks, on the other hand, are not a diagnosable condition. They’re a product of other anxiety disorders, particularly generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). They often follow prolonged periods of intense worry or stress. Instead of appearing suddenly, anxiety attacks manifest as the intensity of existing anxiety symptoms increases. These include nervousness, difficulty focusing, irritability, elevated heart rate, rapid breathing, shaking, trouble sleeping and a sense of impending danger.
At the end of the day, both panic attacks and anxiety attacks have similar, distressing symptoms. Which one your teen is experiencing matters less than developing a strategy to keep anxiety symptoms at bay.
