Our ancestors while having their own set of problems never faced the daily barrage of stressors that we have to deal with. Many nights sleep is lost due to that stress. Not only do we feel ragged and fatigued the next day, we tend to age quicker due to our body not recovering and resting the way it should. If not addressed, these sleepless nights will turn into nocturnal anxiety attacks which will disrupt the normal cycle of our lives.

As human beings we need to rest approximately every 16 hours. Our resting period lasts approximately 8 hours and then we're up again. There is no way around this cycle. Sooner or later our bodies must rest. When something causes a disruption in the normal course of life, the sleep awake balance is lost and problems start to arise. If you regularly sleep less than 8 hours every night you may suffer from chronic sleep problems. One major issue of concern is nocturnal anxiety disorder or sleep panic attacks.

A dependable diagnosis of sleep panic attacks is more more difficult because the disorder is a mix of several different symptoms which indicate various other sleep disorders. During the first stages of the night attacks, you will not sleep much or well for that matter and will most certainly feel drained the next morning. During the initial stages you are advised to seek professional help to assist you in dealing with the attacks.

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

As much as 50% of all panic disorder sufferers experience some nocturnal anxiety disorder.

One of the worse side effects of panic attacks while sleeping is that the sufferers tend to formulate a fear of sleeping and that increases their anxiety and complicates matters even more. However, turning to sleep pills isn't the way to treat these issues as the pills can make you addicted and not solve the problem.

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, fear, perspiration and tremors. Such symptoms usually come about when the person is in deep sleep.

The uncovering of the cause of sleep panic attacks has not been made. Some have alleged that the buildup of carbon dioxide in the body while we sleep may be the cause. This is known to be the "false suffocation alarm."

Panic attacks while sleeping can be eradicated with medications.
Even So, medications should be used as a last recourse as these disorders can be cured with certain restrictions and life 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 serious step. You must understand yourself first and then try to explain it to a friend or your family. Not only will you feel better the more you talk about it, the faster you can experience a reduction or the elimination of your anxiety attacks. Apart from that you must make certain lifestyle changes as well - such as quitting or limiting smoking, caffeine and alcohol. These substances can easily increase the intensity of an attack. Additionally I would say that self help is the best help to cure night panic attacks.