Panick Attacks and Fainting..

[rickolasnice]

Hi,

I have a friend that passes out everytime he has a panick attack.. He says he feels the panick attack coming.. starts to panick and then wakes up a few seconds later on the floor.. I've seen it happen once and it was scary..

Is this just extreme reactions to a panick attack or could it be something worse?

Btw this happens once every week or 2..

 

[Xtc <3]

I'm not sure but I would like an answer to this also as this seems to be happening more and more often to me.
My vision starts to lapse badly as well when im panicking (Like a slideshow of my vision that I only get to see slides 5/10/15 of) usually this prevents me from walking and I hit the deck.

I dont actually pass out though, im usually just hella scared.

 

[TakeItAll]

Lots of people hyperventilate while in a panic and deprive themselves of enough oxygen to stay conscious then they faint.

I heard a psychiatrist talk on the weekend and his advice was this:
Anxiety is almost the same as fear. In a person without anxiety however they become fearful in the presence of danger. Therefore anxiety is the when a person is fearful but without the threat of danger.

Many people escalate their levels of anxiety by trying to figure out what it is that is making them anxious and because they can't find the danger since it doesn't exist matters get worse and worse until they have a full blown panic attack and potentially faint like your friend. While it is difficult to do in the moment what they need to do is not worry about finding the cause of their anxiety and focus instead on the fact that the anxiety will pass just like it always has in the past.

And you should probably try and convince your friend to see a doctor before they faint and hurt themselves badly falling over.

 

[Jabberwocky]

They used to have people breath into a paper bag to stop that kind of hyperventilation.

Turns out that isn't the best advice http://firstaid.about.com/od/shortnessofbreat1/f/07_paper_bags.htm That page links to this page http://firstaid.about.com/od/shortnessofbreat1/ht/06_hypervent.htm which gives some constructive advice about what to do.

 

[Xtc <3]

anxiety is the when a person is fearful but without the threat of danger.

The only problem with my panic attacks is that most of them are assosciated with extreme tightness and heavyness in chest, sound distortion, pains in chest as well as palpatations and difficulty breathing.

Whenever I have one when tripping, the fear that im having a heart attack escalates to a point of pure terror, I am unsure as to whether the pain I feel during this experience is 'real' in the sense that it relates to something actually happening with my heart

Often at the peak of the attack the pain in my chest just spikes and my vision darkens and almost shakes with terror.

Anyone else have similar experiences?