Life has never been so stressful for our ancestors; they have honestly been able to have a sound sleep at night. We tend to feel drained and exhausted after one of those sleepless nights. From here we experience the beginnings of nocturnal anxiety attacks.

As humans we have this pattern where we are awake for a certain time and we sleep for a certain time. If we are lucky we are awake for close to 16 hours and we sleep for 8. This is indeed a never ending cycle that we would have to abide by. However, when there is an obstruction in the normal course of life, the balance is lost and then problems creep in. Nocturnal anxiety disorder occurs when you suffer with chronic sleep problems. One way to learn if you do is to monitor the amount you regularly sleep. Is it less than usual? You may have sleep anxiety disorder.

I say may because sleep anxiety attacks is not easily diagnosed. You see it is a mix of many symptoms that indicate various sleep disorders. So a reliable diagnosis may be delayed. During the onset of the night panic attacks, you will not be able to sleep well or much for that matter. This will obviously cause you much discomfort and make you very drained the for the rest of the day. You are advised to seek a professional to help you through this when such a situation occurs.

The common symptoms of panic attacks while sleeping are insomnia, sleepiness during the day and improper sleeping patterns. Insomnia is more frequent than the other two symptoms in the initial phases. Also panic attacks during sleep are routine with people having unpredictable sleeping behaviors.

It is alleged that over 50 percent of panic disorder sufferers are likely to have sleep panic attacks, but these are likely to happen during the day.

Sadly, people that suffer from panic attacks while sleeping formulate a fear of sleeping which makes matters worse. While it may seem logical and obvious to some, sleeping pills are not the answer to resolving these problems. You could make things worse by becoming addicted to them.

Sleep panic attacks cannot be related to dreams as the attack tends to strike at the earlier stages of Rapid Eye Movement or REM.Therefore, dreams cannot be held accountable for setting off panic attacks. Also, the occurrence of nocturnal anxiety attacks can result in sudden waking up, palpitations, breathlessness, fearfulness, perspiration and tremors. Such symptoms usually pass when the person is in deep sleep.

It is still not known what causes nocturnal anxiety attacks. But it is said that the suspected cause might be the building up of CO2 or carbon dioxide within the body while we sleep. This is known to be the "false suffocation alarm."

Panic attacks can be treated and medications can completely extinguish the signs of such attacks.
Nonetheless, medications should be used as the last weapon for intervention as these disorders can be cured with certain restrictions and changes. To be clear, we're talking about anxiety medications and not sleeping pills.

You can free yourself of the night panic attacks and anxiety attacks in general if at first you can make peace with yourself. This is a very crucial step. You must first comprehend yourself and what is occurring before you make any attempts to explain it to your family or friends. The more easily you are able to express your concerns and the occurrences of your attacks the quicker you can free yourself from its grip. Some life style changes that appear to help rid sufferers from night attacks consist of giving up smoking and limiting the consumption of alcohol and caffeine. These substances trigger the intensity of the attack. Additionally I would say that self help is the best help to cure night panic attacks.