Health & Fitness
4 Ways to Distinguish Between a Heart Attack and a Panic Attack
A panic attack and a heart attack have similar symptoms, such as a strong pain in the chest, sweating, a prickly feeling, uneven breathing, and nausea. The fact that a heart attack can induce panic only makes it more likely that people confuse the two. But despite the seeming similarity, you can learn to distinguish between them effectively.
We at Clamotion are certain that if either you or a member of your family experiences panic attacks, it’s vitally important for you to understand the differences between them and something even more serious. This article will help you.
How to recognize a heart attack
- People describe the pain during a heart attack as constricting.
- As a rule, the pain appears in the center of the chest and can move downward along the left arm and along the back.
- The pain can also spread to the neck, teeth, and jaw area.
- The intensity of the pain can change.
- The pain lasts for more than five minutes and doesn’t affect a person’s breathing.
- The prickly feeling is generally restricted in most cases to the left arm. This is often accompanied by a cold, sticky sweat, feelings of nausea, and even throwing up.
- At the height of a heart attack, people experience a fear which is concentrated exclusively on the pain in their chest, and they become afraid they might die.
As a rule, in addition to the above, the individual often experiences quickened breathing, apart from cases when the heart attack provokes a panic attack.
