How To Know If It Is A Heart Attack Or An Anxiety Attack
A heart attack and an anxiety attack can be causes of intense concern for both the sufferer and those closest to them. Both are characterized by the presence of disturbing chest pain that produces anguish and despair. Although they correspond to similar bodily manifestations, there are some differences that allow them to be detected with precision and forcefulness. Often, the confusion found between these concepts causes many people to lack the resources to face these situations in time and avoid complications. Likewise, the lack of necessary and accurate data on this topic can lead to erroneous beliefs.
In this PsychologyFor article we will provide you with information about How to know if it is a heart attack or an anxiety attack
One of the main ways to distinguish an anxiety attack and a heart attack is the intensity of the chest pain experienced in both heart attacks and an anxiety attack varies considerably. On the one hand, heart attacks can cause a persistent oppression in the chest that radiates to different areas of the body.
For its part, in anxiety attacks feeling of discomfort is localized to a particular point. In the vast majority of these cases, the type of chest pain subsides through various body and mental relaxation techniques. In situations involving heart attacks, it is difficult for relief to occur without medical intervention.
Duration
A heart attack usually has a average duration of 10 minutes, but a person’s state of health can worsen significantly over time. In this way, people who have had previous heart attacks know that these situations cause deterioration in the body that is not easily recomposed.
On the contrary, anxiety attacks can vary in duration due to the particularities of each one of them. In other words, anxiety reaches a maximum intensity peak after a few minutes, but after this time It gradually subsides until it disappears completely
Location of pain
The body location of the pain that occurs in both a heart attack and an anxiety attack differs in both situations.
On the one hand, a heart attack consists of intense and sharp pain located in areas near the sternum, which gradually radiates to other sectors progressively. In general terms, this causes permanent and greater discomfort as the minutes pass. For this reason, it can be said that the beginning of the condition is limited to a small place, but then it spreads within the body.
In the case of anxiety attacks, it is common for the pain to be confined to the left sector, although It does not radiate to new sites
Degree of danger
One of the most relevant indicators to detect both heart attacks and anxiety attacks consists of the degree of danger of each of them. Due to the complications they entail, heart attacks they are very dangerous and can cause serious consequences for the person they go from lung congestion to physical death. In these cases, people require hospitalization and emergency medical intervention to prevent further deterioration.
However, anxiety attacks do not cause direct consequences for the person’s physical health because the causes that cause them are determined by the presence of intrusive thoughts. In this article we explain what intrusive thoughts are and why they appear.
Symptoms
The symptoms of a heart attack can intensify over short periods of time. In general, the person who suffers from this condition usually presents shortness of breath, labored breathing, dizziness, nausea, body weakness, pain in the left arm, among others.
Although anxiety attacks also have this type of clinical presentation, the symptoms are usually accompanied by a persistent idea of death or madness. In addition, there is usually body tremors and a feeling of numbness.
In short, the most notable difference between the symptoms of anxiety and a heart attack is found in the psychological factors that influence them. Here you will find more information about Types of anxiety and their symptoms.
Previous causes
Heart attack can be associated with multiple previous causes, the most frequent being formation of blood clots in arteries. This causes a blockage of blood due to a blockage in the coronary artery, which is connected to the heart.
On the other hand, anxiety attacks are caused by a combination of stressful situations that have not been successfully assimilated by the person. That is, there are no biological factors that intervene in this problem.
Possibility of pain control
Heart attacks result impossible to control due to the permanent radiation of the pain that occurs. Since the intensity increases gradually, there are no methods or body movements that bring relief.
On the other hand, anxiety attacks can be decreased if a type of fluid body breathing and other mental distraction techniques are used. If you want to know more about this topic you can read the article Can I give myself a heart attack due to anxiety?
This article is merely informative, at PsychologyFor we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to How to know if it is a heart attack or an anxiety attack we recommend that you enter our Clinical Psychology category.
Bibliography
Calderón Rubio, E., Pérez Gonzaga, S. (2020). Differential diagnosis between panic attacks and acute coronary syndrome. Relationship, stigma and contributions of psychology. International virtual conference of Psychiatry, Psychology and Mental Health Nursing.
