PANIC ATTACKS CONFUSED AS HEART ATTACKS THAT CAN NOW BE TREATED WITH PRESCRIPTION DRUGS AND THERAPHY

Symptoms are quite alike, but a panic attack makes you feel like you are going out of control

A polytechnic graduate taking a roller-coaster ride experienced such extreme panic that she would later feel the same awful sense of fear on buses and trains.
The panic attacks got so bad that she could not leave her house alone for nearly two years.
Thankfully, oral medication helped to calm her and, within a month of receiving the treatment, she was able to attend job interviews.

A Singapore study conducted in 1998 estimated that 2.7 per cent of the population here may have similar panic disorders, said Dr Victor Kwok, head of the department of psychiatry at Sengkang Health, which manages Alexandra Hospital.

HARD TO DIFFERENTIATE
It is not easy for anyone to differentiate a panic attack from a serious medical condition and it is not safe to assume that it is a panic attack at the start.
DR VICTOR KWOK, head of the department of psychiatry at Sengkang Health, which manages Alexandra Hospital.

A panic disorder refers to the occurrence of repeated panic attacks, episodes of intense fear that can last for a few minutes.

A panic attack can involve physical symptoms such as:
• Increased heart rate
• Sweating
• Giddiness
• Numbness in the hands
• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/panic-attack-or-heart-attack