What Causes Anxiety and Panic
Attacks?
The short answer to this
question is that panic attacks are caused by extreme anxiety.
To understand what causes anxiety and panic attacks you need to
first understand the root cause of your anxiety.
Anxiety is a term used to
describe a normal feeling people experience when faced with a
real or imagined threat, danger, or when stressed. When people
become anxious, they typically feel upset, uncomfortable, and
quite tense.
Feelings of anxiety can be a
direct result of real life experiences, such as relationship
breakdown, serious illness, job loss, vehicle accident, or the
death of a loved one. There's no need to be too concerned of
the physical effects of feeling anxiety in these situations as
its quite normal, and usually we only feel this anxiousness for
a relatively short period of time.
A panic attack however can by
a more terrifying situation for those that
have experienced one and can be difficult for others to
understand its debilitating effects. In a panic attack, there
is an abrupt onset of intense fear. The fear experienced can be
as dramatic as losing control, going mad or even dying.
These symptoms can often be mistaken as signs of a serious
medical condition such as a heart attack, by the person having
the panic attack.
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Attacks
A panic attack is a sudden
period of intense fear or discomfort, in which four or more of
the following symptoms can reach a peak within 10
minutes:
- Palpitations, pounding
heart, or accelerated heart rate
- Sweating
- Trembling or
shaking
- Sensations of shortness
of breath or smothering
- Feeling of
choking
- Chest pain or
discomfort
- Nausea or abdominal
distress
- Feeling dizzy, unsteady,
lightheaded, or faint
- Derealisation (feeling
'unreal') or depersonalisation (feeling detached from
yourself)
- Fear of losing control or
going crazy
- Fear of dying
- Numbness or tingling
sensations
- Chills or hot
flushes.
What Triggers the
Fight or Flight Response (FFR)
It is normal and sensible to
become anxious in some situations. For example, if a stranger
grabs you as you walk down a dark and deserted street it would
be normal to show some of the above symptoms of anxiety,
also called the 'fight or flight' response or FFR for
short.
The 'fight or flight' response
is one of the root causes of panic attacks. Your body has an
in-built survival mechanism that is activated in times of
potential danger or threat to enable you to either fight
or flee from the danger. This type of anxiety is both
useful and normal and is not a cause for concern.
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Attacks
To explain what causes panic
attacks we need to get a little technical so here goes.
The sympathetic nervous system prepares us for the "fight or
flight" response and when activated triggers the release of the
hormone adrenaline through the body. If
confronted with an external threat to our safety this so called
'fight or flight' response gives us the capacity to run from a
serious threat such as a bushfire, the strength
to ward off an attacker and the ability to move quickly
out of harm's way.
The
parasympathetic nervous system on the other hand eventually
restores our body to its normal state, once the perceived
danger has passed. Many of the panic symptoms that people
feel can be attributed to the 'fight or flight'
response, which causes panic attacks.
This 'fight or
flight' response can also be triggered in anticipation of
a feared situation or by the fear of having a panic
attack. The additional symptoms of the 'fight or
flight' response lead to additional distress and
can prolong the feelings associated with the panic attack
over an extended period of time. Even after the initial
panic attack has diminished, a person can still feel quite
frightened or fearful, which in turn can activate the FFR,
sometimes for several hours.
Remember that panic attacks
should only last a short while before the parasympathetic
nervous system takes over and relaxes the body. This is a
built-in protection mechanism that prevents our
anxiety from spiralling out of control.
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how to cure Anxiety and Panic
Attacks
Have you ever held your
breath for a minute or more? You would have leaned
that you cannot stop yourself breathing as you cannot
override your body's overwhelming will to
survive. Similarly your body will work quickly to
override your state of anxiety and panic and will restore
your body to its natural state.
A pacy heart rate is not
a sign that you are about to have a heart attack. Your
fear has simply caused the activation of your sympathetic
nervous system and your body is preparing to fight or flee from
a danger that isn't really there.
You can learn more about what
causes anxiety and how to overcome Panic Attacks using the
Panic Away anxiety release method by Joe
Barry.
Successfully Cure
Anxiety and Panic Attacks
Today
If you
answered YES
to the above
questions, I strongly recommend that you check
out The Anxiety Release Method by Joe
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