Symptoms of Mild Anxiety Attack

The symptoms of mild anxiety attack can range from fear to feeling helpless.

Anxiety attacks can be complicating to understand because the symptoms of mild anxiety attack are both physical and mental. If you suffer from mild anxiety attacks, know that you are not alone because many people suffer from this form of stress. It's important to understand the symptoms so you can then take action to help curb an attack.

Here are some of the symptoms of mild anxiety attack:

• Heart palpitations

Usually, this is the first sign you are having an anxiety attack - the heart begins to beat faster. As your heart is racing the blood may pound in your ears, while your mind fills with thoughts of "What's happening to me?" and "Am I in any danger?" You may even find yourself putting your hand over your chest in an effort to calm yourself down.

• Perspiration

Along with a racing heart, you may also feel yourself break out into a light sweat, as perspiration coats your body, your palms may begin to feel slightly clammy.

• Dizzy/Lightheaded

Keep in mind that all of these symptoms can happen simultaneously, or they can follow one another in a sequence of events. In this way, it is not uncommon to feel slightly dizzy or lightheaded, either before your heart begins to pound or after.

• Feeling a sense of danger

When all of these different symptoms combine, it's not unusual to feel as if you are in danger. In fact, that actually makes sense since your body has activated its flight or fight system. And since you do feel in danger (after all that's what your body is telling you) you may look around frantically (trying to figure out what in your immediate vicinity can cause you harm), or you may feel a very strong urge to get away and return to someplace "safe" (for example, home).

If you often find yourself in the middle of an anxiety attack, you know just how crippling, and life altering it can be. You may avoid going outside or doing things you once loved, and instead, choose to stay home so that you don't have to deal with the fear that comes from these anxiety attacks.

In addition, you may not want to take medication. If this is the case, there are some practical steps you can take to help deal with these attacks:

• Talk to your doctor

It is very important to talk to your doctor because he/she may have a wealth of information that can help you. If you don't want to go on medication, explain this to him or her and then ask if there is anything else that can be done to help alleviate the attacks.

• Look around

When you are in the middle of an anxiety attack, look around for signs of danger. This may seem counter intuitive, but it isn't - your body is telling you that it perceives danger, so it's important that you honor that message. Not honoring it means lying to yourself, something the body loathes.

Instead, keep your eyes peeled, and even look behind you if you have to. Once you see for yourself that there is nothing to be afraid of, tell yourself that. Your body will begin to get the message because it will realize that you are being honest.

• Breath

From there, concentrate on your breath and begin to take deep breaths. This will focus your mind on something other than the panic you are feeling, and it will begin to "pull" you into yourself. This shift from the external (what's happening around you) to the internal (my body is fine) will help you relax your fight or flight response back down to normal levels.

• Hold someone's hand

If you are with a partner, or a small child, hold his/her hand. The reassuring warmth, solidity and strength from an outside force will help your body know that there is nothing to be afraid of. After all, your partner, or child is feeling perfectly fine, so why shouldn't you? This helps on a psychological level as well because as humans, we often take social cues from those that are around us.

• Avoid heart pumping chemicals

The main culprits of raising one's heart beat is usually cigarettes and caffeine. If you can't live without caffeine, then try limiting yourself to just one cup a day.

• Exercise

If may sound strange, but making your heart pound, on purpose, can actually have a calming effect. When you exercise, the body releases a cocktail of feel-good hormones, like serotonin, that have a soothing and "happy" after effect.

• Carry a good luck charm

This can be anything, a religious artifact, a pendant, it doesn't matter. Even though the charm may not have any "super powers", as long as it's something you really believe in, it may help to calm you down, feel protected, and safe, and that can have a beneficial psychological effects. Additionally, it gives your hands something "physical" to hold on to.

It may seem as if there are several things you'll need to do to help calm an anxiety attack, and in fact there are, but this actually makes perfect sense. After all, when you are in the middle of an episode, the symptoms of a mild anxiety attack are usually more than one. Therefore, it's understandable that you may have to do a few separate things in conjunction to relieve that anxiety.

No matter what, do not give up and do not succumb to fear. Keep practicing these techniques until they become second nature, and when in doubt, discuss your symptoms with a licensed health care practitioner.

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