What are panic attacks and what triggers a panic attack?
For whatever reason, your subconscious mind considers you life is in danger and is reacting accordingly! Our cavemen ancestors were not only hunters but also the hunted. We were the potential prey of many wild animals. It is a function of our brain to make all resources available to us in times of great danger and to make them available instantly.
The parts of our brains responsible for this are the amygdala and the hypothalamus. It was necessary in those times to be able to fight quite ferociously or to be able to run very fast to escape. It is called the fight or flight response. For us to be able to do this, large amounts of adrenaline are released into our bodies.
Nowadays though we do not need to run or fight, yet we have all this adrenalin surging through our bodies and we are unlikely to use it up by running or fighting.
It is the unused adrenalin in our bodies which creates all the very unpleasant physical symptoms.
Panic Disorder
What has happened is that the minute you experience one or more of the symptoms of anxiety, your immediate reaction is to panic and as you panic so more of the symptoms are felt and the more you panic. So, a vicious cycle is set – you fear the attacks and because you fear them, you start to feel anxious, as you feel anxious, you panic. Some people become very good at avoiding situations in which they fear they might panic. I have helped many sufferers who don’t tell family or friends what is troubling them and take on a life of making excuses.
They often find themselves cutting and running when they fear an attack is imminent and this puts a tremendous strain on them and their friendships/relationships and they can even develop a commitment phobia.