How do I know whether I'm having a panic attack or just anxious?

When having a panic attack it may feel like you're about to die, or you may hyperventilate, sweat, cry, choke, feeling you're going crazy, and/or feel like you're going to throw up

Everyone has different symptoms when they are having a panic attack. You just have to learn how you are when you're anxious and how you are when you're beginning to panic and go from there.

Panic attack and anxiety are different states. In anxiety, a person would be worrying about possible adverse outcomes and their effects. While in panic attack, the situation would seem to have gone out of control and it would manifest in physical symptoms that match with major health disorders or life threatening conditions. For example, a person suffering panic attack may experience difficulty in breathing, rapid heart beating, bodily weakness, dizziness or numbness in parts of body.

My breathing will become erratic and pressured. My vision will become hazy and unreliable. My palms get sweaty and I begin to worry about more than I should worry about.

A panic attack is situation dependent, something that made a person feel that they need to react while anxiety has nothing to do with a specific coinsurance.

I think the main thing is the feeling of lack of control during a panic attack. Also, a lot of the time you will experience physical symptoms when you have a panic attack as well.

I find that when I am having a panic attack I start to break out into a sweat, my body starts to shake and I can't focus on anything. When I am struggling with anxiety I can sense that my heart may be racing a bit and my breathing may be heavier but that it is just anxiety and I know my coping skills to help me get through. The difference between the two is that during a panic attack you don't have as much control over your actions that you make, your thought process isn't as strong so you can't use the coping strategies that you have learned. Whereas with anxiety you may have a hard time focussing but you are able to control your emotions and use your strategies so that you don't get yourself to having a panic attack

"Panic attacks, on the other hand, mostly involve severe, disruptive symptoms. During a panic attack, the body's autonomous fight-or-flight response takes over. Physical symptoms are often more intense than symptoms of anxiety. While anxiety can build gradually, panic attacks usually come on abruptly." Many people can't really tell the difference between a panic attack or a an anxiety attack. With panic attacks some people may feel racing heart, weakness, faint, or dizziness, chest pains, or breathing difficulties. With anxiety attacks, the symptoms may seem alike, but you can kind of tell the symptoms apart like anxiety attacks include heart palpitations, trembling, sweating, chest pressure/pain, burning skin, hot/cold flushes, numbness and tingling sensations, or of course a high feeling of overwhelming fear. See, the symptoms are similarly alike, so it's kind of hard to tell them apart, but some symptoms are different.

This is a really great question. The DSM-5 definition of a panic attack is a short episode of intense physical or mental sympathetic system activation -- this can make you feel like you're able to faint, your heart is beating, etc. A lot of people report feeling like the world is ending and that they might die. However, this episode doesn't last long and eventually you will relax. On the other hand, anxiety can have similar symptoms (although not as sudden) and last a lot longer. It's important to connect with a mental health professional or your family physician to seek out the correct diagnosis.