Navigating Anxiety: How Long Does an Anxiety Attack Typically Last?

Anxiety disorders have gripped around 301 million Americans. It is one of the most common mental illnesses in the country.

The issue is concerning because anxiety, if left untreated, can further develop into severe psychiatric disorders. 40 million American adults are currently affected by the condition, and only 1 in 4 of them receive appropriate medical attention.

Therefore, it is high time we understand how to navigate anxiety. In this article, I will help you understand what anxiety is, how anxiety attacks manifest, how long do they last, and how to address these issues effectively.

What is Anxiety?

This section will explore the details of anxiety disorder.

Anxiety is a natural emotional and physical response to stress. How do you generally react in highly tense situations? You may either fight it off or try to escape or avoid it. Anxiety is triggered as a result of your flight or fight response.

Anything from studies to work and relationships can induce fear and anxiety. However, even anxiety levels have limits. If the anxious thoughts become too severe, they can affect your daily functioning. This is when it turns into a mental condition.

Anxiety blown out of proportion can cause many different types of anxiety disorders such as panic disorder, phobias, separation anxiety, social anxiety, and more.

What are Anxiety Attacks?

Let us understand the symptoms and other details of anxiety attacks in this section.

This is predominantly associated with panic disorder. It is characterized by frequent episodes of extreme physical and mental terror. Here are some of the major signs of an anxiety attack:

• Excessive sweating
• Extreme dizziness and discomfort
• Difficulty breathing
• Constant palpitations
• Extreme bodily numbness
• A churning sensation in the stomach followed by stomach aches
• Instances of fainting have also been reported
• Feeling pukish or nauseous
• Fear of dying or choking
• Fear of being helpless or defenseless
• Recurrent urge to be socially isolated at all times
• Unsteady body movements
• Racing mind contaminated by negative thoughts

How Long Do Anxiety Attacks Last?

Now, it is time to answer the most important question in this article. How long will an anxiety attack last? Whether it will go on for a few seconds, minutes or hours will largely depend on the patient.

You are braving an unanticipated mental and physical storm. And you want it to end soon. How soon is soon enough, though?

Anxiety attacks evoke a deep sense of dread. But gaining insights into them and observing individual experiences will help you know their durations.

In some cases, the eventual buildup to traumatic events in life can have a lasting impact on you. It is hard to shake off that stress, and some scars do not even heal with time. So, a typical duration of an anxiety attack can be anywhere between a few minutes and thirty or forty five minutes.

However, there might still be multiple variations depending on your individual conditions and triggers causing the attack.

Battling the maximum intensity of the attack in the initial period of 10 minutes is challenging. But what is even harder is to endure the lingering effects. These can make you suffer emotionally and physically for a day or many days on end.

How bad the trigger was and how resilient you were will eventually determine the duration of your anxiety attack. The immediate effects may wear off in a few minutes. However, the long-term impact can be felt for hours, days or months.

It is essential to develop effective coping mechanisms to successfully navigate anxiety. This is more important for patients affected by other comorbid anxiety disorders.

Also, anxiety fuels extended episodes of severe anxiety. So, unfortunately, some patients may continue to suffer emotional pain beyond the passing of time. And this can cause even more anxiety in the future.

Managing Anxiety and Anxiety Attacks

This section discusses the best solutions to address anxiety and anxiety attacks.

There are positive coping methods to alleviate anxiety and anxiety attacks. Religiously practising them can help you reduce the severity of the impact.

Yoga, deep breathing and mindfulness meditation can calm your nerves and alleviate physical pain. Deep breathing techniques relax your mind and body to suppress the overpowering feelings and induce overall calmness.

This works great to establish a positive mind-body connection. It is essential to engage all your five senses to the fullest extent to focus on your bodily sensations. Concentrating on the present moment gives you more control of your emotions. This is one of the best ways to move away from negative thought patterns.

Your emotional and physical steadiness are crucial to managing your anxiety attacks the best way. So, embrace and stay anchored in the present moments.

However, if self-care and grounding techniques do not work for you, try consulting a mental health counselor. Mental health experts will help you build that steady mind and body using various therapy approaches.

Persistent anxiety attacks can disrupt your daily life, academics, professional career, and romantic relationships. So, with the help of counselors, you can be better prepared to face your unpredictable anxiety episodes head-on.

Mental health providers will make sure you are opening up to them in a secure environment. A safe zone with no barriers can help identify risk factors more accurately. This way your therapist can also help you to produce unique responses to stress, evaluate them and then create an effective, future-proof treatment plan.

Conclusion

Anxiety and associated attacks are like choppy, scary sea waves – hard to fathom but not impossible to pass. However, these are short-term storms that you must confront through perseverance and effective coping skills.