How can one who endures any type of anxiety learn to recognize the
differences between an anxiety disorder or a panic disorder. Even if
often bearing common physical and psychological symptoms, there are
some very definitive deviations that make them a distinctive disorder
all of their own.

Persistence of Anxiety

In the case of a typical anxiety disorder, ones thoughts are packed
with constant anguish and uneasiness. They fear that everything that
happens or may come to pass is going to be really bad. The anxiety in
this disorder hardly ever diminishes and is almost always constant. It
is a vicious cycle of dread that has no clear beginning or ending.

Panic attacks are mainly commonly known for their sudden unexpected
appearances. They can be brought on by anything, in any place, at any
time. There is also no set time these attacks can last for. Sometimes
they may last as short as a few minutes while other times it can be as
long as many hours.

Anxiety Triggers

One of the annoyances of a standard anxiety disorder is the inability
to control the fact that anything and everything can produce an attack.
Often times, an attack may be triggered by things that may never even
occur but the brain will still invoke worry and agitation.

Panic disorder sufferers have been found to be more prone to having
epic attacks when sensing tension in a certain setting. This in itself
can give rise to great anguish to a victim, knowing they could
experience an attack if they find themselves in similar events.

Even though nearly all panic attacks ascend without warning, some
people are able to see common actions or connections between multiple
attacks.

Underlying Emotions

Sufferers of an anxiety disorder feel very distraught and perturbed
fearing that something is going to go horribly wrong. They are agitated
about average every day things that they should not elicit a second
thought about in the first place. The emotions are usually unsettling
and disturbing, in contrast to the griping panic and feeling of
hysteria that envelops a panic disorder.

Although panic attack sufferers do not know what they are in reality
afraid of, they become entangled in trepidation and lost in visions of
terror. Their logical part of the mind may be aware that there is
nothing to fear, yet they still can not rid themselves of the sense
that something really bad will happen.

A huge concern with many suffering from the standard anxiety disorder
is that with all of their worrying and being distraught, they can cause
an all out attack. It is habitually in cases where there may be a
reason to have some concern and with the extra stressing they find
themselves in a situation they can no longer manage.

If there is a growing fear of it occurring again, there could be future
panic attacks as a result. Also, some serious cases of anxiety disorder
can feel a lot like a panic attack at some moments, but it is clearly
noticeable in the duration and type of symptoms.