Panic Attacks - What Are They and Why Do People Suffer From Them?
Panic attacks are the unexpected reaction of overwhelming anxiety, which is accompanied by both physical and psychological symptoms.
Panic attacks are simply a response of the sympathetic nervous system with the responses of cognitive and somatic symptoms.
They can appear to come on very quickly and often seem to occur for no reason, this is not the case however, and they are in fact a natural human response, which is intended to help protect the humans' body from the signs of danger.
This is commonly known as "fight or flight" the body is inundated with hormones, one of which is adrenalin.
As a panic attack is like the bodies alarm system, it is not always easy to look back and identify the actual cause of the panic attack.
The mechanisms both mental and physical that allow the persons body to react to a perceived threat, can be triggered unnecessarily, i.
e.
when there is no danger.
Research by scientists have no exact explanation for why this happens in some people, or why some people are more susceptible than others, although they do know that it runs in families, so our genes may be a factor in whether we suffer from them or not.
In saying that, it does also occur in people who have no family history of it.
These people tend to develop it as a first attack being triggered by a major life event.
From stress, medication or physical illness that has increased the activity in the specific part of the brain that controls their fear reaction.
Sometimes women while they are pregnant appear to have increases in the frequency of attacks.
The symptoms of a panic attack are interesting because so many of them are the same as other illnesses, the closest of which is a heart attack.
The symptoms are an intense pounding of the heart, a large amount of perspiration and shortness of breath.
There is chest pain or just chest discomfort as well as stomach pain.
Your whole body can tingle in a strange way as well as your head feeling dizzy or light headed.
Those are the physical symptoms and the other symptoms are confused or stressed thinking and vertigo.
Not all of these symptoms are going to occur every time, but a few of them must be experienced for it to be a true panic attack.
The attack must develop abruptly and have reached a peak with in a 10-minute period from the onset.
There are many ways in which to reduce the chances of having these symptoms appear and go through the experience of a panic attack.
Stress seems to pop up as one of the main culprits in the cause of reoccurring panic attacks.
The balance of stress is the key point here, because we all need a certain level of stress in our lives to keep us active and meeting our goals within a time frame.
It is when the stress levels go beyond the point where you can actively manage them that then become an issue, which needs to be fixed.
The increased levels of stress do create the onset of panic attacks.
Some techniques do remove the excessive levels of stress in your life and therefore hopefully remove the potential of panic attacks are: Eat healthily; Exercise daily and Get a hobby you really enjoy.
If a friend or a family member is having a panic attack you can actually help them through it.
If you recognize the symptoms and understand what it is you are going to be a huge support for them.
Scientists have proven that the blood flow to the brain and within the brain changes during an attack, so in essence they are no longer in control, their brain is in control and it is almost impossible for them to regain control until the brain returns the flow of blood to normal activity.
So as a bystander, you can identify the cause, and also determine that it is definitely a panic attack and not another illness they are suffering with.
Once that had been determined you can find the source of the panic and remove it or the person from it.
Don't make assumptions as to what the person needs; they may know themselves, especially if it is not their first one.
They may have medication or a specific technique that works them through the panic attack, so always ask the person if they know what they need to do.
Reassure them they will be fine, never dismiss their fear as it can make the situation worse at the time because the fear at that point in time is very real to them.
Panic attacks are simply a response of the sympathetic nervous system with the responses of cognitive and somatic symptoms.
They can appear to come on very quickly and often seem to occur for no reason, this is not the case however, and they are in fact a natural human response, which is intended to help protect the humans' body from the signs of danger.
This is commonly known as "fight or flight" the body is inundated with hormones, one of which is adrenalin.
As a panic attack is like the bodies alarm system, it is not always easy to look back and identify the actual cause of the panic attack.
The mechanisms both mental and physical that allow the persons body to react to a perceived threat, can be triggered unnecessarily, i.
e.
when there is no danger.
Research by scientists have no exact explanation for why this happens in some people, or why some people are more susceptible than others, although they do know that it runs in families, so our genes may be a factor in whether we suffer from them or not.
In saying that, it does also occur in people who have no family history of it.
These people tend to develop it as a first attack being triggered by a major life event.
From stress, medication or physical illness that has increased the activity in the specific part of the brain that controls their fear reaction.
Sometimes women while they are pregnant appear to have increases in the frequency of attacks.
The symptoms of a panic attack are interesting because so many of them are the same as other illnesses, the closest of which is a heart attack.
The symptoms are an intense pounding of the heart, a large amount of perspiration and shortness of breath.
There is chest pain or just chest discomfort as well as stomach pain.
Your whole body can tingle in a strange way as well as your head feeling dizzy or light headed.
Those are the physical symptoms and the other symptoms are confused or stressed thinking and vertigo.
Not all of these symptoms are going to occur every time, but a few of them must be experienced for it to be a true panic attack.
The attack must develop abruptly and have reached a peak with in a 10-minute period from the onset.
There are many ways in which to reduce the chances of having these symptoms appear and go through the experience of a panic attack.
Stress seems to pop up as one of the main culprits in the cause of reoccurring panic attacks.
The balance of stress is the key point here, because we all need a certain level of stress in our lives to keep us active and meeting our goals within a time frame.
It is when the stress levels go beyond the point where you can actively manage them that then become an issue, which needs to be fixed.
The increased levels of stress do create the onset of panic attacks.
Some techniques do remove the excessive levels of stress in your life and therefore hopefully remove the potential of panic attacks are: Eat healthily; Exercise daily and Get a hobby you really enjoy.
If a friend or a family member is having a panic attack you can actually help them through it.
If you recognize the symptoms and understand what it is you are going to be a huge support for them.
Scientists have proven that the blood flow to the brain and within the brain changes during an attack, so in essence they are no longer in control, their brain is in control and it is almost impossible for them to regain control until the brain returns the flow of blood to normal activity.
So as a bystander, you can identify the cause, and also determine that it is definitely a panic attack and not another illness they are suffering with.
Once that had been determined you can find the source of the panic and remove it or the person from it.
Don't make assumptions as to what the person needs; they may know themselves, especially if it is not their first one.
They may have medication or a specific technique that works them through the panic attack, so always ask the person if they know what they need to do.
Reassure them they will be fine, never dismiss their fear as it can make the situation worse at the time because the fear at that point in time is very real to them.
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