Often times the symptoms of an anxiety attack can make you feel like something worse, like a heart attack is happening.

Ralph Gallow remembers how he felt the day he thought he was having a heart attack. "I would experience a very rapid heart beat and it felt like my heart was just about ready to pound right out of my chest."

Many times people, like Ralph, think they're having a heart attack, when in fact they're experiencing an anxiety attack. "They can overlap because you can get a fast heart beat with it, you get scared with it, you get anxious with it because that's everybody's response to pain."

Usually the first symptoms of anxiety include shortness of breath, a racing heart, breaking out in a sweat, and an overall feeling of impending doom.

Typical symptoms of a heart attack may be a little different. "It can chest pain which usually is perceived as crushing. It can either be located mid chest, left chest, or between the shoulder blades. Occasionally it will radiate into the neck. It may occur first in the neck or the jaw, and then it will radiate to the left arm."

Many times the symptoms of a heart attack and an anxiety attack are alarmingly similar. It's not always easy or even possible for you to know the difference. "To separate out what is anxiety and what isn't anxiety is very difficult. It is important for you to go the emergency room or call EMS because EKG and tests will separate them out. We always say better to be safe than sorry."

So anytime your chest just doesn't feel right, you should always seek immediate treatment from your doctor or call 911.