Panic Attacks

A quick chat about how’s and why as it’s often an issue for many. Generally speaking a panic attack is the result of our automated fight, flight or freeze response. This can arise from psychological problems such as PTSD, OCD and/or depression. Other factors may be due to being under more stress than you can cope with.
It may also be sensitivity to anxiety, some are more prone to the feelings and are more likely to notice harm or the perception of it than others. This being said some people’s bodies are more responsive to stressful events and produce more stress hormones such as cortisol and epinephrine. Other may have learned experiences from family or caregivers earlier in life where catastrophising small events were the norm. There may also be a genetic disposition towards emotional problems that occur in life.
Panic Attacks may result in:
1. Dry mouth, in fight/flight mode you don’t need to eat.
2. Need to go to the toilet, here’s where the term I near crapped myself comes in. The reason for it is the body decides to dump any extra weight so it can move faster., and from the evolutionary point of view, it’s the old way of using vile stench to ward off attackers, the same as other animals do with scent glands.
3. Feeling faint. It’s because you’re not using the extra oxygen from rapid breathing, the extra oxygen is to assist in the activity the brain is telling you you’re going to need for fight or flight even though you don’t.
4. Digestive system, nausea may occur. This is because stomach blood is diverted for a moment to the more important parts of the body that may need it.
5. Breathing is faster and shallow to allow the body to take in more oxygen in order to power muscles.
6. Breathlessness, yawning, tightness in the chest, smothering feelings, chest pain can all be related to faster breathing.
7. Paleness, cold hands, tingling or numbness in fingers and/or toes due to the redistribution of blood.
8. Shaking is due to the adrenaline not getting the opportunity to be used. It’s supplied by the adrenal glands to signal various parts of the body it’s time for fight or flight.
9. Sweating, this helps cool the body and makes it harder for the imagined or real perpetrator to grab and hold on.
10. Muscle tension, again due to the adrenaline, shakes may occur along with exhaustion after the event has passed.
11. Your heart beats faster to pump blood to the parts of the body that are being told of your need to fight or flee.
12. Rapid thoughts aren’t a sign of losing it, the opposite actually. It’s to help you assess danger and make quick decisions.
13. It’s Bright, yes vision changes to allow more light in, again to allow you to assess the situation and to assist the rapid thought process looking for danger.
6. Breathlessness, yawning, tightness in the chest, smothering feelings, chest pain can all be related to faster breathing. automatic response systems all come together in harmony to protect you. This is unfortunate if the danger is perceived rather than real but nonetheless, it’s something we should be very grateful for, so consider embracing a panic attack and experience the wonder of your own amazing body doing its job as it’s (generally) supposed to. By doing this you’ll actually start re-training your brain from previously learned experiences that you’re not in any real danger, and when you are in real danger, the amygdala will automatically kick in anyway.