We have a genetic protective mechanism that if we are experiencing an emergency situation or perceive that we are in a life-threatening situation we will fight or flee. The flight or fight response gave primitive homo sapiens a mechanism to exist in a world where danger was a daily experience. Today panic attacks occur when we experience a stressful life experience. The experience may be negative in nature (e.g., loss of a job, severe illness, death of a parent, or financial problems). The experience may also be positive (e.g., getting married, buying a home, having a child, getting a promotion). For some people, we become more susceptible to panic attacks with little or no reason. For other people they develop ulcers, headaches, or stomach problems as a reaction to stress.
If you have experienced a panic attack and you have a family member who has experienced a panic attack (genetic precursor) you have an increased probability that you will experience a panic attack as a reaction to stress.
If you are in your car and you proceed through a green light but the person who is supposed to stop at the red light runs it and slams into you this is a real type of emergency. You may experience a panic attack which is your body’s normal reaction to overwhelming stress. Next week when you drive through the same intersection you may experience another panic attack even though there is no emergency. This is an example of a spontaneous panic attack.
Those individuals who respond to stressful events with panic often become hyper vigilant to the physiological symptoms associated with a panic attack. These include difficulty breathing, pounding or racing heart, chest pain/tightness, sweating, shaking/trembling, nausea, hot or cold flashes, numbness or tingling, feelings of unreality, feeling dizzy of faint, a fear of dying or a fear of losing control. All of these sensations cause people to become frightened.
The physiological sensitivity causes the person to search for some type of danger, and if the danger does not exist s/he will make up a reason for the physical feeling, e.g., I must be having a heart attack or I’m going crazy. This cognitive catastrophic conclusion causes the person to experience even more stress and they have a panic attack “out of the blue.” Unlike the automobile accident there is no clear trigger.
It is important to keep in mind that even if there are no obvious triggers, there is always something going on that will elicit the panic attack. We know that cumulative stress can cause individuals to have panic attacks. We also know that many people develop “beliefs” about the causes of their panic attacks for which they do not have any concrete evidence. The individual may believe s/he is going crazy, is not in touch with reality or is dying.
Mastery of Your Anxiety and Panic by David H. Barlow, Ph.D. & Michelle G. Craske, Ph.D. is an excellent handbook that you can use alone or with a cognitive-behavioral therapist to manage your anxiety and panic attacks. I often use this book with many of my patients. Available at Amazon.
Be Well!
Lawrence J. Schulte, Ph.D. C.Ht.
Ph.D. Clinical Health Psychology 1990-Present
Registered Hypnotherapist (2016-Present)
