Panic Attacks While Sleeping

Panic attack is a condition where a person suddenly feels brief periods of intense anxiety, fear, physiological arousal, trembling body and pounding heartbeats. Millions of people suffer from panic attacks that suddenly occur and leave the person totally shocked and miserable. Panic attacks while sleeping are a worst of a kind as they do not let a person have a good night's sleep which, at the end, disturbs him more.

Causes and Symptoms
Panic attacks are upsetting as they occur when the body is at resting mode. The occurrence of panic attacks while sleeping is the result of extreme stress that an individual goes through the day. Many times, a person cannot find an outlet to his grief and as a result it is let out in sleep. They are also caused when a person faces separation anxiety due to the loss of a loved one or a change in a fixed lifestyle.

The symptoms are very much similar to the regular panic attack symptoms. Panic attacks do not harm a person physically but they do look very real and troublesome. Person going through a panic attack while sleeping may wake up in mid-sleep with totally terrifying feeling and tremendous anxiety symptoms for no specific reason. Anxiety that is usually related to stress, headache, sore muscles, shoulder and back pain, pounding and hasty heartbeats, nausea, feeling of vomiting and excessive sweating may also appear.

Symptoms of panic attack at night also vary from person to person. Some people start feeling that they are just about to die, they stop breathing and also feel that they are contracted with a deadly disease. Some people wake suddenly from deep sleep, pace back and forth with tremendous restlessness. They can't sleep with lasting fear of recurring panic attacks which disturbs their sleeping pattern and makes them a vulnerable candidate of insomnia.

Treatment
As a person suffering from these attacks is very much scared and stressed out, it is very important to evade his fear of falling asleep as well as provide him/her a good stress buster. Psychotherapy and especially the cognitive behavioral therapy is the best suggested treatment along with trying to maintain the mental health. There are certain medications that are prescribed by the doctor according to his/her symptoms. Meditation, listening to music, indulging oneself in a captivating pastime, learning relaxation techniques like yoga and stress management, joining a recreational center, exercising in the gym, spending more time with family and friends and such easy ways are great relievers that reduce the stress up to a great extent.

In many a cases, people get very scared to sleep and as a result they start suffering from insomnia. In such cases, getting rid of insomnia gets equally important as it can lead to stress and then eventually to panic attacks and many unpleasant health conditions. Following a healthy diet, doing light exercises, having small and light evening meal, avoiding smoking and drinking alcohol are some things that a person suffering from panic attacks must practice.

Panic attacks is the main symptom of some huge disturbance in one's lifestyle that he/she needs to find out and evade as soon as possible. Keeping troubles to one's own self has never helped anyone, talk your troubles out and find their solutions rather than waiting. Dealing with stress in the day time is one of the best ways to get a great night's sleep and getting rid of the panic attacks while sleeping. Take care!