The basics of an anxiety disorder panic attack Anxiety disorder affects about 13% of the world’s population, according to most objective world health sources. Anxiety disorders include panic attacks, fear disorders, and sleep disorders. Stress disorders affect more women than men by a difference of about 2 or 3 percent. This is known as the fight or flight reaction, and is widely accepted as the main reason behind any panic attack. When a person experiences an extremely stressful, or traumatic, event the body will react. A release of chemicals into a persons system will cause an extreme reaction to the situation. An anxiety panic attack occurs when the chemicals are triggered by a reactive stressor. Typically a child experiencing GAD cannot control the amount of time spent worrying about such things. The best way known to treat GAD is through relaxation techniques and therapy. Generally talking children out of their worrying can work wonders, but a trained mental health physician is usually the best prepared to encounter such a disorder. It can cause people to withdraw indoors and avoid social activities for reasons involving fear. An anxiety attack, conversely, is an unexpected episode that usually involves fear as oppose to an overwhelming feeling. A sign of anxiety attack can be anything from irregular heartbeats to chest pain. They also include: shaking, twitching, trembling, hot flashes, chills, “rubber legs”, tingling in extremities, difficulty sleeping, unpredictable sleeping patterns, body tension, aches and pains, sweating, clamminess, and stomach problems such as nausea or “butterflies”. Some medications or diseases can bring about a lot of the symptoms of an anxiety attack and so these need to be determined and dealt with first in order to eliminate any possible other issues. A change in medication or a diagnosis of another disorder may in fact cure the panic and anxiety attacks. It is important to document your symptoms before visiting your doctor as you will be prepared to discuss them accurately. The structure of the brain and its process are inherited in totality and that can be another reason why people with chemical imbalance can pass on the anxiety disorder thus, being the cause of anxiety attack. Also growing up as a child in an abusive home, where the family expressed anxiety and violence constantly can be the cause of anxiety attack.