Tranquilizers

Acute anxiety panic attacks have been described as one of the most painful of life experiences. The condition can last for a few minutes to one or two hours. The individual is cast into a state of terror by some nameless imminent catastrophe. All rational thought processes cease during this time.

There are a number of cardiovascular responses to this state such as palpitations, tachycardia (elevated heart rate), arrhythmias of the heart, and sharp chest pain. Breathing becomes very difficult, almost impossible. The term given for this condition is hyperventilation. The extremities (hands and feet) feel cold, numb, and tingle with a feeling of pins and needles being present in the skin which may turn blue in places.

Other symptoms include fine trembling of the hands when they are stretched out, a feeling of "butterflies" in the stomach, sweating, a general sense of weakness, dizziness, nausea, and sometimes diarrhea. People and the environment and surrounding objects seem remote and unreal. All these symptoms reinforce the anxious patient's belief that either loss of consciousness or death are nearby.