If you suddenly experience chest pains, shortness of breath and nausea, how will you be able to tell the difference between a heart attack and an anxiety attack? You may rush to the doctor fully convinced that you are having a heart attack only to realize that your heart is fine and that it was just an anxiety attack. Such situations occur frequently in most emergency rooms. Since the symptoms are similar you should familiarize yourself about the difference between a heart attack and an anxiety attack.
One of the easiest ways to tell the difference between a cardiac arrest and an anxiety attack is the presence of excruciating pain in the chest. A heart attack manifests the same symptoms as an anxiety attack but also causes the patient to suffer from intense pain in the chest. The pounding and racing heart beat causes throbbing pain in the chest when a patient is having a heart attack, while there is no pain in a patient having an anxiety attack. The pain in a heart attack lasts for more than a few minutes and may also come and go. The upper parts of the body, the shoulders, neck and jaw will also experience this pain. It is not uncommon for heart attack victims to complain of intense stomach pain and nausea.
In the case of an anxiety attack, the patient can tell the distinction between a heart attack and an anxiety attack due to the shortness of breath. An anxiety attack patient will experience difficulty in breathing and through deep and slow breathing this may soon subside.
Cold sweats and lightheadedness are also symptoms used to tell the difference between a heart attack and an anxiety attack. These are early signs of an impending heart attack and the patient should seek medical help before the attack actually happens. People who are having an anxiety attack become irrational and it is difficult to convince them that they are not having a heart attack.
Although pain may manifest in some cases of anxiety attacks, the intensity is one distinguishing factor of a heart attack and an anxiety attack. Pains associated with heart attacks are excruciating and incapacitating.
If you lead a hectic life, with several deadlines to meet in your work and at the same time you are dealing with stressful issues at home you are bound to suffer from an anxiety attack at one time or another. Therefore, it is important that you are knowledgeable about the distinctive features associated with both conditions. The symptoms of an anxiety attack usually disappear and you go back to being normal whereas the symptoms of a heart attack will leave you with residual complications.
If you suddenly experience these symptoms and you are unable to differentiate between a heart attack and an anxiety attack, then you should immediately seek medical attention. You may end up feeling embarrassed when your doctor says that you have nothing to worry about, but it is better to be embarrassed than to keel over in the street suffering a heart attack simply because you ignored the signs.
Author Byline: Haliyma Barrow is a freelance journalist and blogger with a Master’s degree in Public Administration from NYU. Haliyma enjoys writing informative mental health articles such as tips on how to lucid dream.