I’ve read that they are different things entirely. I used to think I had a panic attack as opposed to the little anxiety attacks I feel now. One was more of an emotional feeling with crying and confusion. Hyperventilating and fear. The other is more of a weird tense feeling where I can think clearly of what is going on, and can’t stop thinking of it. I am not diagnosed by a professional, these are just my experiences. I thought the first was a panic attack and the second an anxiety attack. All I know is they where two completely different experiences and feelings with different effects physically and mentally.

Good question, Arfie. I'm not sure, either.

Long time ago (25+ years ago), they would say you had anxiety, and then those intense, weird, sudden surges would be called "panic attacks". "They" didn't say Anxiety Attack. Just called it all - General Anxiety (with/or without) Panic Disorder.

Like you said, I also use "anxiety attack" when I really mean "panic attack".

From what I understand, anxiety is an overall sense of worry and fretting, and a panic attack is a sudden, intense surge of symptoms (the racing heart, feeling faint and feeling sudden dizziness, etc). I think it's a newer term to call panic attacks "anxiety attacks", and that they both mean the same thing. The "attack" part being the common denominator.

Don't know if this helps or not. Whatever it's called.... I wish mine would go away for good!!

Yes they are different! So much fun learning that the hard way.

Panic attacks are “worse”/more extreme than an anxiety attack and carry an overwhelming sense of doom or a feeling like you’re going to die.

Anxiety attacks are more centralized, can just be psysiological, may be more short lived or easier to just let it play out to get through it and be done.

Panic attacks are more fear based and often don’t have an end in sight. They are more rare.

That’s a brief summary of how the two are different for me and how they play out.

Clinically I understand them to be categorized differently by characteristics as well. Panic attacks are usually abrupt and super intense, with a strong sense of unreality and detachment. In my experience and in discussions with a therapist many years ago, they generally peak at 10-15 minutes People can have panic disorders or the attacks can occur without having a disorder.

I’ve had two panic attacks in my life, both within a couple of days of each other and it was during recovering from an acute health event that nearly killed me. My anxiety was at an all time high and then came the sudden onset panic attacks, which was the catalyst for seeing a therapist In my experience, the panic attacks were very different from what I would call my “anxiety attacks.”

For me, the anxiety attacks are more a build up of worry and longer lasting, but less intense than a panic attack. I also think the sense of detachment is kind of the hallmark of a panic attack. I truly felt separated from my body and reality during a panic attack. Hard to explain.

inside my own sensory perception, both are fear-based, on their own and by dictionary definitions, anxiety lingers, panic attacks.

i kinda wonder if "anxiety attack" is a misnomer. larger fact is, it doesn't seem to much matter. in common usage, both names work equally well and all seem to agree that, by whatever name, "i wish mine would go away for good! ! !"

! ! !yo! ! ! wish fairy! ! ! there's work to be done! ! !

Yeah, I kind of think anxiety attack is a misnomer as well. But anxiety certainly feels like an attack at times to me so I think it becomes sort of a semantic thing, outside of clinical circles. It all is unpleasant for sure.

I have to say, for me, once I understood that what I was experiencing were panic attacks, they stopped. It was very strange. I don’t know if that was just coincidence, but in some ways the relief that came from knowing it was *just* a panic attack kind of helped me reset. It also helped me reframe how I saw my anxiety. It seemed more like a nuisance after that rather than a derailing force.

in military terms. . .

could anxiety be a siege where the enemy forces camp outside your defense perimeter for long enough to starve you?

could panic be an ambush that catches you by surprise at random times and places?

both are devastating forms of attack.

Pretty spot on, to me.

Maybe even stepping on a land mind vs death by a 1000 cuts.

Arfie, having had panic attacks and anxiety episodes with panic attacks, I can vouch for the way you describe the event.

For me, the panic attack stopped me - frozen, unable to move, speak, and when I breathed in and out to relax the muscles, I realized that I had 1/2 hour (that's the usual amount of time for a panic attack physical sensations to reset) before I would be comfortable enough to move.

a weather analogy which occurred to me is that anxiety is like the long slow death of drought and panic is like a flash flood which emanates from a storm upstream. i live in a region where both are local killers.

in my own herstory, panic attacks trigger my flight instincts and hypervigilance to the extent that i have found myself in other countries before i regained my senses. timetables unknown. i am proud to say it has been a while since a panic attack has carried me any further than the county line.