BODY SIGNALS: ANXIETY, DIFFICULTY BREATHING, NUMBNESS IN HANDS, PANIC
Description and Possible Medical Problems
If a patient tells me that he’s never had an anxious moment in his life, I tell him that either he’s not human or he’s lying.
We all know the physical signs of anxiety—sweaty palms, increased heartbeat, and a feeling of panic. Usually, the anxiety passes in time. For some people, however, anxiety can become overwhelming, even crippling. A person who is having a panic attack can develop heart palpitations and start to hyperventilate. His hands might become numb as a result of the hyperventilation. In rare cases, the hyperventiliation becomes so severe that he heads for the emergency room because he’s positive that he’s having a heart attack. Once I was on a plane over the Atlantic when a fellow passenger developed a panic attack so acute that he was absolutely convinced that the plane was going to crash before we landed.
Treatment
If you feel anxious and begin to hyperventilate, breathing into a paper bag will calm you and help you to breathe normally again. For some people, however, the anxiety can become so crippling that it can make it impossible for them to cope with even small problems. These people can benefit greatly from psychiatric intervention with regular therapy sessions and medications such as BuSpar, Xanax, and Valium. Relaxation and exercise can also have a soothing effect on people who are prone to anxiety attacks.
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