Do you believe that panic attacks are life-threatening? You are right. These are harmless episodes triggered by stress and resolve on its own. But medical science has changed its views on panic attacks IF this is frequently experienced. What causes these harrowing attacks? Before knowing the symptoms, you must understand that panic attacks are not a manifestation of a disease but a condition sparked by the body’s reaction to fear and stress.
When a person is confronted with a stressful situation, he may fight or flee. As a consequence, his body reacts to the situation and exhibits symptoms of panic attacks. During a panic attack, the body is flooded with epinephrine or adrenaline and the abnormal levels of the hormone triggers the body’s response to the stress. The experience may be as short as fifteen seconds or as long as thirty minutes. It has not been established yet why women are more prone to panic attacks than men.
What makes panic attacks so disabling is that they are unpredictable, so that they can be experienced anywhere, anytime. People who suffer from them never know when they’re going to experience one. When a panic attack begins, there first may be mounting fear, followed by several symptoms. Panic attacks can occur in stressful situations for anyone occasionally, but if you experience frequent panic attacks, you have panic disorder.
Panic disorder earned from but relevant to the condition of panic attacks. You experience the same symptoms, which can be very immobilizing. You may have, for example, feelings of terror or dread, racing heart, shortness of breath, excessive sweating, dizziness, nausea, shakiness or trembling, abdominal upset, numbness or tingling sensations, choking sensations, and a feeling that you might die or at least lose control.
The exact cause of panic attacks is yet unknown, but they occur because your mind and body react to intense fear, and again, while this is a normal reaction in a truly dangerous situation, it’s not when panic attacks occur. It may be as a result of genetic malfunction. For example, panic disorder is more likely if family members have had episodes of panic attacks or have had depression. In addition to genetic components, panic attacks may be also caused by stress and medication.
Stress can trigger a panic attack. For example, if a loved one very close to you has recently died and you are dealing with separation or grief, the anxiety brought upon by these very stressful situations can make you vulnerable to panic attacks. You may not know you’re having a panic attack when the fear first escalates to the level that you feel like you’re going to lose control. A hallmark of panic attacks is that the body reacts to the fear as though there is a very dangerous situation at hand, when in fact there is not.
If you suffer from severe panic attacks, most likely both your mind and body are reacting to fear. For example, if you already are under severe stress or if you suffer from depression, your body can have panic attack reactions, which exacerbates your mental fear, which further provokes physical symptoms, and so on. Panic attacks themselves can become a vicious cycle. It may become so bad, sadly, that thinking of having a panic attack can in fact actually cause one. Your mind first registers fear, then your body responds.
If you have had panic attack symptoms very frequently, see a doctor. First of all, you should rule out any physical disorders that could be actually causing the panic attacks. If none are found, medications can help control the panic attacks, and you may also seek counseling and therapy. These sessions can help you understand your fears, while a trained therapist can also expose you to them so that you must face them and ultimately get them back under control.