A heart attack and an anxiety attack can be causes of intense concern both for the sufferer and for those close to him. Both are characterized by the presence of disturbing chest pain that causes anguish and despair. Despite the fact that they correspond to similar bodily manifestations, there are some differences that allow them to be detected accurately and forcefully. Often, the confusion found between these concepts causes many people to lack the resources to deal with these situations in time and avoid complications. Likewise, the lack of necessary and precise data on this subject can lead to erroneous beliefs.
In this Psychology-Online article we will provide you with information about How to know if it is a heart attack or an anxiety attack.
Index
- type of chest pain
- Duration
- Location of pain
- Degree of danger
- symptomatology
- previous causes
- Possibility of pain control
type of chest pain
One of the main ways to distinguish between an anxiety attack and a heart attack is the intensity of the chest pain that is suffered both in heart attacks and in an anxiety attack varies considerably. On the one hand, heart attacks can cause a
On the other hand, in anxiety attacks the feeling of discomfort is localized in 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, relief is difficult to manifest without medical intervention.
Duration.
A heart attack usually has a average duration of 10 minutes, but a person's state of health can significantly worsen 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 peak of intensity after a few minutes, but after this time It subsides gradually until it disappears completely.
Location of pain.
The bodily 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, this causes a permanent and greater discomfort with the passing of the minutes. For this reason, it can be said that the beginning of the condition is delimited in a small place, but later it expands 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 that they entail, heart attacks they are very dangerous and can cause serious consequences for the person they are going to 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 physical health of the person because the causes that originate them are determined by the presence of intrusive thoughts. In this article we explain What are intrusive thoughts and why do they appear?.
symptomatology.
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, shortness of breath, dizziness, nausea, body weakness, pain in the left arm, among others.
Although anxiety attacks also have this type of clinical presentation, the symptoms are often accompanied by a persistent idea of death or madness. In addition, there are often 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.
The 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 from a blockage in the coronary artery, which is connected to the heart.
Instead, 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 involved in this problem.
Possibility of pain control.
Heart attacks result impossible to control due to the permanent irradiation of the pain that is produced. Since the intensity gradually increases, there are no methods or body movements that bring about 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 have an anxiety attack?
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online 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 category of Clinical psychology.
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 Congress of Psychiatry, Psychology and Mental Health Nursing.
