Sudden feeling of dread
Can a Feeling of Impending Doom Be a Symptom?
A feeling of impending doom is a sensation or impression that something tragic is about to occur.
It’s not unusual to feel a sense of impending doom when you’re in a life-threatening situation, such as a natural disaster or accident. It’s less typical, however, to feel that your life is in danger while you’re at work or resting at home.
A feeling of impending doom can actually be an early sign of a medical emergency. Doctors and medical professionals take a patient seriously when they say they think “something bad is about to happen.”
But to understand if this sense is the harbinger of a possible medical event or if it’s caused by anxiety or depression, you’ll need to consider several factors. After all, a sense of impending doom can also happen during a panic attack. That is a serious but not life-threatening situation.
Keep reading to understand what a sense of impending doom feels like, how it can be diagnosed, and what happens if your doctor suspects it’s an indication of something more serious.
In many cases, a sense of impending doom comes before rather serious medical events, like a heart attack, blood clot, seizure, or poisoning. A feeling of impending doom can often be a sign of an imminent medical event or crisis.
That’s why doctors take the symptom seriously. If a patient reports a feeling that “something bad is about to happen,” doctors don’t dismiss that.
A sense of doom may be the very first symptom. It often happens before other obvious symptoms. Chest pain, for example, is a well-known symptom of a possible heart attack. But before these pains even appear, some people will experience a sinking feeling that something bad is about to happen.
This sensation can and does occur outside of serious medical events. For example, it may be the result of a medical condition. People with bipolar disorder, depression, and panic disorder may experience a feeling of impending doom or find themselves upset and unable to rectify the feeling with an obvious explanation.
What’s more, some people experience a feeling of impending doom after a medical event. Individuals with brain trauma or injury may feel that something devastating is going to occur after these events take place. This is a result of the trauma and likely not a signal of a coming crisis.
Very little research has looked at why this sensation occurs just before a medical emergency. The research that has investigated it suggests it may be related to releases of hormones and chemicals.
These changes may not be detectable the way chest pain or muscle weakness is, but sudden changes in hormones and chemicals can create obvious impacts. One of those may be feeling like something traumatic is about to happen.
A sense of doom may precede the following conditions:
- heart attack
- stroke
- seizures
- anaphylaxis
- cyanide poisoning
- blood transfusion reactions
Some people with certain mental health conditions may experience this feeling.
These conditions include:
- anxiety
- panic disorder
- depression
- obsessive compulsive disorder
A feeling of impending doom may also be caused by:
- adrenal gland tumor
- cardiac tamponade, or the accumulation of fluid in the sac surrounding the heart
Often, a feeling of impending doom will be accompanied by other, more obvious symptoms, including:
- sudden sweating
- shaking or tremors
- heart palpitations
- nausea
- hot flashes
- shortness of breath
- depersonalization, or feeling as if you’re watching yourself from outside your body
Doctors do take this symptom seriously. To properly diagnose it, they weigh several factors. These include any existing mental health conditions and physical health issues.
For example, the sensation may be the result of anxiety or concerns about life events. Extreme stress or a panic attack can cause this. A doctor will try to assess if these issues are at play before making a diagnosis.
If mental health concerns like anxiety or stress don’t appear to be a factor, your doctor may consider physical issues, like a heart attack. They may monitor you for additional signs or symptoms of an impending health event. If this anticipated health event doesn’t occur, the doctor may assume the sensation is the result of a mental health issue or trauma.
If you’re feeling unwell and have this sensation, you should report it to a doctor. Patients who report they feel something bad is about to happen or feeling uncertain and uncomfortable to an extreme may be giving their doctors a heads up.
when to see your doctorIf you don’t have a health condition that causes feelings of anxiety or panic, the sense that something bad is about to happen could be a warning sign. In short, a feeling of impending doom should be taken seriously.
You need to see a doctor if:
- you feel that something bad is happening
- you feel as if you can’t sit still
- you’re feeling extremely uncertain and unsure but can’t pinpoint why
- you have an unidentified sense of urgency or anxiety
- you begin to show other symptoms of possible medical emergencies, such as hot flashes, nausea, sudden sweating, shortness of breath, tremors, or heart palpitations
You don’t treat the feeling of impending doom.
You treat the issue that is most likely causing it.
For example, if the sensation is an alert to a medical event, the feeling is likely to pass once the event is over. If it’s the result of an ongoing medical condition, such as a brain injury, treatment for that injury may help eliminate it.
Lastly, if the feeling is caused by a mental health condition, such as anxiety or panic disorder, treatment for that condition will go a long way to eliminating the feeling. Mental health treatment can also help you understand when this sensation is happening and how to reduce it.
Your doctor will pay close attention to this feeling. In part, it could be a sign that a serious event is about to take place. But it could also signal another condition, such as a brain injury or panic disorder, that requires further treatment.
A feeling of impending doom is a very serious symptom. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. In fact, doctors and emergency responders know that the sensation may be telling them something important — that a crisis could be just around the corner.
If you’re experiencing this feeling now, seek emergency medical treatment.
Not all people who feel as if something bad is about to happen will have a serious event, however. People with a history of panic attacks or anxiety may experience this from time to time.
If this has happened to you before, you may want to talk with a psychologist or licensed therapist. These experts can help you understand what might be causing it and what you can do to reduce it.
Can a Feeling of Impending Doom Be a Symptom?
A feeling of impending doom is a sensation or impression that something tragic is about to occur.
It’s not unusual to feel a sense of impending doom when you’re in a life-threatening situation, such as a natural disaster or accident. It’s less typical, however, to feel that your life is in danger while you’re at work or resting at home.
A feeling of impending doom can actually be an early sign of a medical emergency. Doctors and medical professionals take a patient seriously when they say they think “something bad is about to happen.
”
But to understand if this sense is the harbinger of a possible medical event or if it’s caused by anxiety or depression, you’ll need to consider several factors. After all, a sense of impending doom can also happen during a panic attack. That is a serious but not life-threatening situation.
Keep reading to understand what a sense of impending doom feels like, how it can be diagnosed, and what happens if your doctor suspects it’s an indication of something more serious.
In many cases, a sense of impending doom comes before rather serious medical events, like a heart attack, blood clot, seizure, or poisoning. A feeling of impending doom can often be a sign of an imminent medical event or crisis.
That’s why doctors take the symptom seriously. If a patient reports a feeling that “something bad is about to happen,” doctors don’t dismiss that.
A sense of doom may be the very first symptom. It often happens before other obvious symptoms. Chest pain, for example, is a well-known symptom of a possible heart attack.
But before these pains even appear, some people will experience a sinking feeling that something bad is about to happen.
This sensation can and does occur outside of serious medical events. For example, it may be the result of a medical condition. People with bipolar disorder, depression, and panic disorder may experience a feeling of impending doom or find themselves upset and unable to rectify the feeling with an obvious explanation.
What’s more, some people experience a feeling of impending doom after a medical event. Individuals with brain trauma or injury may feel that something devastating is going to occur after these events take place. This is a result of the trauma and likely not a signal of a coming crisis.
Very little research has looked at why this sensation occurs just before a medical emergency. The research that has investigated it suggests it may be related to releases of hormones and chemicals.
These changes may not be detectable the way chest pain or muscle weakness is, but sudden changes in hormones and chemicals can create obvious impacts.
One of those may be feeling like something traumatic is about to happen.
A sense of doom may precede the following conditions:
- heart attack
- stroke
- seizures
- anaphylaxis
- cyanide poisoning
- blood transfusion reactions
Some people with certain mental health conditions may experience this feeling. These conditions include:
- anxiety
- panic disorder
- depression
- obsessive compulsive disorder
A feeling of impending doom may also be caused by:
- adrenal gland tumor
- cardiac tamponade, or the accumulation of fluid in the sac surrounding the heart
Often, a feeling of impending doom will be accompanied by other, more obvious symptoms, including:
- sudden sweating
- shaking or tremors
- heart palpitations
- nausea
- hot flashes
- shortness of breath
- depersonalization, or feeling as if you’re watching yourself from outside your body
Doctors do take this symptom seriously.
To properly diagnose it, they weigh several factors. These include any existing mental health conditions and physical health issues.
For example, the sensation may be the result of anxiety or concerns about life events. Extreme stress or a panic attack can cause this. A doctor will try to assess if these issues are at play before making a diagnosis.
If mental health concerns like anxiety or stress don’t appear to be a factor, your doctor may consider physical issues, like a heart attack. They may monitor you for additional signs or symptoms of an impending health event. If this anticipated health event doesn’t occur, the doctor may assume the sensation is the result of a mental health issue or trauma.
If you’re feeling unwell and have this sensation, you should report it to a doctor. Patients who report they feel something bad is about to happen or feeling uncertain and uncomfortable to an extreme may be giving their doctors a heads up.
when to see your doctorIf you don’t have a health condition that causes feelings of anxiety or panic, the sense that something bad is about to happen could be a warning sign.
In short, a feeling of impending doom should be taken seriously.
You need to see a doctor if:
- you feel that something bad is happening
- you feel as if you can’t sit still
- you’re feeling extremely uncertain and unsure but can’t pinpoint why
- you have an unidentified sense of urgency or anxiety
- you begin to show other symptoms of possible medical emergencies, such as hot flashes, nausea, sudden sweating, shortness of breath, tremors, or heart palpitations
You don’t treat the feeling of impending doom. You treat the issue that is most likely causing it.
For example, if the sensation is an alert to a medical event, the feeling is likely to pass once the event is over. If it’s the result of an ongoing medical condition, such as a brain injury, treatment for that injury may help eliminate it.
Lastly, if the feeling is caused by a mental health condition, such as anxiety or panic disorder, treatment for that condition will go a long way to eliminating the feeling.
Mental health treatment can also help you understand when this sensation is happening and how to reduce it.
Your doctor will pay close attention to this feeling. In part, it could be a sign that a serious event is about to take place. But it could also signal another condition, such as a brain injury or panic disorder, that requires further treatment.
A feeling of impending doom is a very serious symptom. It shouldn’t be taken lightly. In fact, doctors and emergency responders know that the sensation may be telling them something important — that a crisis could be just around the corner.
If you’re experiencing this feeling now, seek emergency medical treatment.
Not all people who feel as if something bad is about to happen will have a serious event, however. People with a history of panic attacks or anxiety may experience this from time to time.
If this has happened to you before, you may want to talk with a psychologist or licensed therapist. These experts can help you understand what might be causing it and what you can do to reduce it.
how to save yourself from panic attacks
pressfoto/zoonar/wavebreakmediaWe all experience anxiety or fear from time to time. As a rule, these emotions have specific causes. However, in some cases, panic attacks occur as if by themselves, and in this state the person is unable to control himself. These are the so-called panic attacks. By the way, they are much more common than you might think. The psychotherapist Nikolai Pugach tells about what it is. nine0003
Nikolai Pugach
psychotherapist, psychologist, gestalt therapist, head of the Higher School of Gestalt Therapy in Udmurtia. Since 2003 she has been practicing individual, family and group psychotherapy. Teacher, author of many publications and articles
Panic attacks are sudden attacks of intense anxiety and fear. They occur most often suddenly, without any visible external or internal causes. If such attacks are repeated for at least one month, we are already talking about the so-called panic disorder.
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How panic attacks manifest themselves
– A panic attack develops suddenly and quickly, its symptoms reach their maximum intensity within 10-20 minutes and then disappear just as quickly, says Nikolai Pugach. – Usually a panic attack lasts about 20-30 minutes and goes away on its own. Moreover, he can overtake a person absolutely unexpectedly, in any situation - at work, while walking, in transport, driving a car, at the movies, sometimes even in a dream.
No matter how bad you feel at the moment of an attack, it is important to remember that it does not pose a real threat to life
It is important to remember that although during a panic attack it may seem to a person that he is about to go crazy or have a heart attack, a panic attack does not pose a real threat to life and health. True, it is not immediately possible to believe in this.
– A panic attack in and of itself can be a symptom of some kind of psychological problem, says Nikolai Pugach.
- Very often, depression in an explicit or erased form is hidden behind panic attacks. Or such conditions can arise against the background of various stresses, internal conflicts, life difficulties that a person cannot cope with. Sometimes the first panic attacks appear on the background of a hangover syndrome, while using certain drugs and even energy drinks. Or it may be that episodes of anxiety and panic can occur against the background of seemingly complete well-being. nine0003
- Panic attacks often occur at the moment of transition from one state of life to another, when it is already impossible to rely on the old, and there are no new supports yet, - Nikolai Vladimirovich continues. - For example, after graduating from the institute (not yet an adult, but no longer a child ), when moving to another city (there are no connections with people yet), the birth of a child (new mother status), etc. That is why the prevention of panic disorder in the first place will be the presence of strong supports - this is family, friends, favorite work, and so on.
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How is panic disorder treated?
Rarely a person can cope with panic attacks on his own, as a rule, he needs the help of a psychotherapist. At the same time, many prefer not to contact a specialist until the last - for various reasons. One of them is the fear that the doctor will certainly prescribe “terrible and harmful pills” to the patient.
- In the treatment of panic disorder, psychotherapy, pharmacological agents, and their combination are used, - explains Nikolai Pugach. – Moreover, both psychotherapy and drug treatment can be aimed at eliminating either the symptoms of the disease or the causes that caused panic attacks. But for each person, the treatment regimen is selected individually. I myself try to prescribe medications only if it is impossible to do without them. For example, when panic attacks are combined with severe depression, or their frequency is such that a person is almost constantly in anxious anticipation of the next attack. Drugs are also needed in cases where the patient's social adaptation is disturbed: there is a fear of leaving the house, traveling by transport or car, being in a large crowd of people, and so on. nine0003
Panic disorder is not always treated with medication
The doctor's task is to help the patient learn to cope with panic attacks even before they occur. At first, medications will come to the rescue, but gradually a person learns to control his condition, and panic attacks happen less and less. In parallel, psychotherapy is carried out, aimed at finding out the causes of panic disorder. Very often, the result of therapy is not only getting rid of panic attacks, but also a general improvement in the quality of life, relationships, the emergence of more strength and internal opportunities to build your life in accordance with your true desires and plans. nine0003
KNOW!
How does a panic attack manifest itself?
The symptoms that accompany panic attacks are very diverse:
- Strong heartbeat, rapid pulse
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Difficulty breathing, feeling of suffocation or shortness of breath
- Sweating
- Chill, tremor, feeling of internal trembling
- Tingling or numbness in various parts of the body
- Pain or discomfort in the left side of the chest
- Nausea, diarrhea
- Feeling "strange" or "unreality" of the surrounding world, oneself
- Fear of death, fear of going crazy or losing control
- Sensation of waves of heat or cold passing through the body
Of course, these symptoms do not necessarily indicate panic attacks. Therefore, it is very important to first of all be examined by a general practitioner, cardiologist, neurologist and other specialists. The task is to make sure that you do not have any dangerous diseases that could manifest themselves in this way. If this is so, then the reason lies in the sphere of the psyche, and a psychotherapist should deal with the problem. nine0003
By the way!
Be careful with your medicines
In some cases, panic attacks can occur as a reaction to certain medications, such as one of the most popular cough medicines. And this is one of the reasons why you should not take medicines without a prescription.
All individually
Panic attacks most often occur in people between the ages of 22 and 50. In this case, each person will have his own, individual, picture of the attack. Therefore, there are no universal, suitable for all tips on how to deal with it. nine0003
No self-treatment!
In case of panic attacks, there is only one way out - to contact a psychotherapist or psychiatrist. Self-medication is unacceptable, especially according to the "recipes" found on the Internet. This path can lead to serious consequences and worsening of the condition.
Read more about panic attacks on the official website of Nikolai Pugach pugatch.ru in the "Articles" section (16+)0001 Anxiety is a negatively colored mood with feelings of worry, tension, and fear. In moderation, such emotions are useful: they help to mobilize forces and find a way out of extreme situations. But there must be grounds for concern, and normally it lasts a limited period of time. If a person constantly experiences a feeling of anxiety and anxiety for no reason, this may indicate the presence of a mental disorder. In the absence of help, constant tension wears out the nervous system and the body as a whole, which leads to a breakdown in adaptation mechanisms and the development of chronic diseases. nine0003 In pathological cases, a state of anxiety and restlessness without a cause manifests itself both mentally and physically. Mental symptoms: Physical symptoms: Unreasonable anxiety and anxiety increase or smooth out from time to time. Exacerbations often accompany stress: conflicts, important events, illness. Normally, a person recovers quickly after the situation is resolved, but when upset, negative emotions do not go away. nine0003 The intensity of anxiety varies from mild to severe. The extreme is panic. If you ignore an anxiety state for a long time for no reason, then panic attacks can join it. They overtake unexpectedly and sometimes without a good enough reason, but after this episode, a person begins to avoid situations similar to the one in which it happened: public transport, an elevator, or just a crowd of people. This greatly reduces the quality of life and can lead to social isolation. nine0003 The occurrence of anxiety disorder is influenced by heredity. It has been found that certain brain structures and features of biological processes play an important role in the emergence of fear and anxiety. There are a number of diseases, the symptoms of which are constant anxiety. With causeless fear and anxiety, the reasons may be as follows: These are the most common examples, but pathological anxiety can be a symptom of other disorders or the result of a failed stress management. If you want to understand why there is a feeling of anxiety for no reason, you should consult a doctor. Without clarifying the main factor and working on it, it is impossible to restore health and peace of mind. It is difficult to live in constant stress. With excitement for no reason, everyone who regularly encounters this wants to know what to do. There is no universal method, however, the 5 steps listed above are recommended for every person with increased anxiety. This may be enough to alleviate symptoms. But if self-help techniques do not give the desired effect, then with a regularly occurring feeling of anxiety for no reason, you need to find out from a specialist what to do. nine0003 Regardless of the cause of pathological anxiety, professional help is the only complete method to eliminate the problem. Due to the diversity of anxiety disorders, their therapy must be adapted to the individual clinical picture and diagnosis. Therefore, only a highly qualified specialist who has experience working with different types of anxiety conditions can tell you how to get rid of an anxiety state for no reason. For example, the therapy algorithm for a patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is different from the help for panic attacks. nine0003 For a state of anxiety and anxiety without a cause, treatment includes the following approaches: Medical therapy. Depending on the type of anxiety and the presence of associated mental or physical health problems, antidepressants, sedatives, sleeping pills, and other drugs may be prescribed. When anxiety is felt without a cause, drug treatment will alleviate the symptoms and improve the quality of life of the patient during his psychotherapeutic work on the underlying cause. Uncontrolled medication leads to dangerous side effects and withdrawal syndrome, so they can only be used according to the individual course prescribed by the doctor. nine0003 It is recommended to use a combination of psychotherapeutic and drug treatment, but sometimes only the first one is enough. If you notice that you cannot relax for a long time, then you should think about visiting a specialist.
Causes of causeless anxiety and anxiety
Personal characteristics, somatic health problems, lifestyle and various types of addictions also matter. Sometimes there is no cause for causeless anxiety and worry. Negative feelings usually have a trigger - an event or thought that causes an anxious response. However, most people are not aware of their triggers and believe that their emotions are groundless. In this case, only a specialist will help to understand why excitement arises for no reason. nine0003
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What to do with causeless anxiety and anxiety
If you experience causeless anxiety and fear of what to do, the following list will tell you: nine0003
This stabilizes physical performance and neurotransmitter levels, which helps maintain emotional balance. nine0044 Treatment of causeless feelings of anxiety and restlessness
If you have constant excitement and anxiety for no reason, you can quickly and effectively learn from a psychiatrist or psychotherapist how to get rid of this condition.
The doctor will help to uncover the main causes of your fears and work them out. The patient receives the tools to overcome anxiety and uses them successfully. Cognitive-behavioral therapy is usually used: in the course of treatment, the patient encounters an object of concern and gradually gains confidence that he can control the situation. nine0044 
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