Panic attack vs. heart attack
Key differences explained
Heart Attack:
​1. Pain Location:
✔ Pain is usually dull, heavy or crushing and can radiate to the left arm, neck, jaw or back.
✔ Often feels like a pressure or tightness in the chest.
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2. Symptom Duration​
✔ Symptoms often have a gradual build-up and can last longer than 20 minutes.
✔ Pain may worsen with physical activity and not improve with rest.
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3. Symptoms​
✔ Can cause cold sweats, nausea, shortness of breath, and pale or ashen skin.
✔ Men: More likely to experience chest pain.
✔ Women: More likely to report nausea, back pain, jaw pain, or extreme fatigue
Panic Attack:
​1. Pain Location:
✔ Chest pain is usually sharp, stabbing, or localized in the center.
✔ Often accompanied by burning sensations or a feeling of being unable to breathe.
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2. Symptom Duration​
✔ Symptoms appear suddenly, peak within 10 minutes, and usually fade within 20–30 minutes.
✔ They do not worsen (and may improve) with physical exertion.
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3. Symptoms​
✔ More likely to cause tingling in hands or feet, dizziness, hot or cold flashes, and a sense of unreality (derealization).
✔ Often accompanied by catastrophic thoughts like “I’m dying” or “I’m losing control”.
When to seek immediate help:
If you have persistent chest pain, especially with numbness in the left arm, jaw pain, or sudden extreme fatigue, seek immediate medical help.
Heart Attacks: Western vs. Eastern Cultures
Western Cultures (eg UK, US, Europe)
Attitude
Heart Attacks:
✔ Seen as a medical emergency with clear symptoms: crushing chest pain, left arm pain.
✔ People are quick to seek help.
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Panic Attacks:
✔ Described emotionally - fear of losing control, derealization, catastrophic thoughts.
✔ Open to therapy—mental health stigma is lower.
Eastern Culture (eg Japan, China)
Attitude
Heart Attacks:
✔ Symptoms often described as stomach pain or discomfort due to modesty and stigma.
✔ Less urgency in seeking help to avoid causing alarm or burdening others.
Panic Attacks:
​✔ Described with physical symptoms: dizziness, numbness, tightness - avoiding emotional terms due to stigma.
✔ Often interpreted as somatic issues (like “heart wind” in China).
✔ Often linked to social anxiety: fear of embarrassing or offending others (like taijin kyofusho in Japan).