How do I know if I'm really having a panic attack or if I'm just freaking out?

Panic attacks are a physical expression of your anxiety. They are often characterized through symptoms such as heavy breathing or hyperventilating, increased heart rate, sweaty palms, aND sometimes dizziness or nausea. For more information on anxiety attacks look at the Self Help guides on anxiety and pa nice attacks.

i have had many panic attacks some are small one was really huge

You will know because you will all of the sudden get an overwhelming feeling that you will not be ok. It is scary and very overpowering

Normally you'll start feeling your chest tighten. Like it's hard to breathe. You can become dizzy or feel light-headed. You'll have a feeling of losing control and you'll feel frightened. Like you may be having a heart attack.

Panic attacks are similar to freaking out, as a panic attack IS freaking out, just very extremely, during panic attacks you may feel like you are in a lot of danger, when in fact you aren't, for example if you are feel threatened by someone you may feel they are hiding in your home waiting to attack you or kill you, when in reality they are simply just being hostile towards you. During a panic attack it is common to feel like your heart is being grabbed and squeezed and a choking feeling like you can't breathe. Sometimes you may get a 'pins and needles' feeling or tingly feeling, feeling sick quickly and shaking is also very common. During a panic attack you might have a fear of death suddenly, which should not occur while just freaking out.

Common symptoms of panic attacks (at least for me) are feeling like you're dying, sweating, chest tightness, can't sit still, just awful feeling that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy. Freaking out is just being in a stressful situation or being really anxious about something.

Sometimes people will have panic attacks, but they'll be unaware of the concept and would say they're "just freaking out". Though it's not very hard to tell these two apart. Symptoms of a panic attack often are fear and feelings that something terrible is going to happen, or that you're going lose control, go crazy, faint, die... one have to consider the mind's a tendency to think over problems in a frantic way and jump to the worst-case-scenarios. There are some harsh physical sensations, like rapid breathing, a pounding heartbeat, shaking, nausea/vomiting, tightness in the throat, chest pain, headache, dizziness, and hot flashes that feed into the experience. Panic attacks are frightening and uncomfortable. Another key is that they can be pretty hard to come down from.

A panic attack can come in different forms, I myself find myself gasping for breath. It's a very scary experience were you feel complete lack of control over even your own body.

When I'm having a panic attack my hands and feet will go numb and I begin to hyper ventilate. It's also common for me to have racing uncontrollable thoughts and my chest will feel tight and it's common to begin crying. Everything gets very overwhelming and it seems to come out of nowhere.

Usually during a panic attack you'll experience your heart palpating and heavy breathing. You'll overall just feel unwell when in an uncomfortable situation that usually makes you anxious. While freaking out is similar, a panic attack is more intense.