A panic attack is defined as what?

A panic attack is defined as what?

• A. A sudden onset of intense apprehension and fearfulness in the absence of actual danger, with physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, difficulty breathing, chest pain, sweating, and dizziness
• B. A long-lasting chronic fear of one or more situations
• C. A period of overwhelming sadness
• D. A brief episode of derealization

Answer: (A)

A panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear or discomfort that occurs even when there is no real danger, and it comes with strong physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, and trembling. The key idea is that the fear and arousal spike abruptly and peak within minutes, often making people feel they might lose control, have a heart attack, or die. That description matches the option that outlines this abrupt, intense fear with clear bodily symptoms in the absence of danger. The other descriptions describe different phenomena: a long-lasting fear of situations points to a phobia, overwhelming sadness suggests depression, and a brief episode of derealization is a dissociative symptom.

A panic attack is a sudden surge of intense fear or discomfort that occurs even when there is no real danger, and it comes with strong physical symptoms such as heart palpitations, sweating, shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, and trembling. The key idea is that the fear and arousal spike abruptly and peak within minutes, often making people feel they might lose control, have a heart attack, or die.

That description matches the option that outlines this abrupt, intense fear with clear bodily symptoms in the absence of danger. The other descriptions describe different phenomena: a long-lasting fear of situations points to a phobia, overwhelming sadness suggests depression, and a brief episode of derealization is a dissociative symptom.