Anatomy Of A Panic Attack

“In panic attacks feeling follows thought so swiftly it is as if thought and feeling are one ”

– Dr. Claire Weekes

So there you are lying in bed when all of a sudden your heart starts to pound and feels like it’s going to leap from your chest. You stop thinking and become overwhelmed by the physical sensations that started in your gut, back or chest. And in what seems like seconds you become convinced that you’re about to die.

Having a panic attack is analogous to a drag race. It starts fast, reaches climax in a flash and winds down gradually. But unlike a drag racing car there seems to be no obvious fuel since Panic attacks are not triggered by any particular thing. In fact almost all the panic attacks I’ve ever had were experienced at home when everything seemed o.k.

During this frenzy of thought and feeling you may experience some of the following symptoms:

• Palpitations
• Slow heart beat
• dizziness
• difficulty breathing
• shaking
• fear of losing control or dying
• Sweating, chills, hot flashes
• racing thoughts
• stomach pain
• numbness in limbs

You may think that you’re having a heart attack because of pain in your arms, you might even pace the room and constantly run your hands over your face and hair in an effort to stabilize yourself. And worst of all you feel like the 5-10 minute panic attack will never end.

After its all over the fear does not stop. You then turn your attention to the next time that this horrible sensation is going to hit you again.

You fear it because you know a panic attack can strike in the morning, during the day or even while you sleep. Basically there is no time or place that a panic attack cannot occur.

Researchers don’t know what causes panic attacks but some believe that they are related to the same things that cause anxiety disorders, namely heredity, brain chemistry and environment.

So we don’t know the exact cause but we definitely know what is going on physiologically. At the root of all this is our bodies fight or flight response.

The bloodstream is pumped with adrenaline and cortisol. The pupils get dilated, you sweat, the heart beats faster and faster to increase oxygen to your muscles and you’re basically reverted back to an animal state.

Way back in prehistory when our proverbial uncle Joe was walking around the untamed wilderness he needed this heightened awareness and lightening fast reaction to stay alive.

We still have this mechanism inside us and could use it to run a little faster, listen a bit more carefully and have just a little more strength to ensure survival in a crisis situation.

But for unknown reasons this safety switch is broken in us and gets set off without warning or cause. It can be frightening but you should also know that it will not kill you.

In fact having a panic attack, or several, does not mean that you will get sick as a direct result. There are long term health issues related to anxiety disorder, but that is tied more to stress and related hormones.

Panic attacks are not dangerous in and of themselves. In other words your not going to have a panic attack and drop dead. You can however develop heart disease over the long term if you do nothing to curb your stress levels.

To cope with panic attacks you must do all you can to do nothing. That is you should sit down and slow your breathing (see diaphragmatic breathing ) and not add to the mounting fear and anxiety.

When we get this scared we tend to want to run (this is the flight response in action) but you have to do the best you can to realize that there is no danger. This is not to suggest that it’s all in your head, believe me I know the fear is real, but you must slow down and not add to the excitement.

Hopefully one day there will be some safe means of counteracting the effects of a panic attack but until then we’ll have to try to reduce stress when things are normal and not overreact when you do get a visit from the anxiety bogeyman.