Panic and Causes

One of the most frightening things you may find yourself experiencing is a panic attack and it is very difficult to fully explain how it feels unless you have experienced one. The very first panic attack often seems to come completely unexpectedly and can even occur whilst you are doing something that you do every day like driving to work, shopping, walking the dog, watching TV, cooking etc. Suddenly you are struck by a barrage of frightening and uncomfortable symptoms and you are convinced that something terrible is going to happen to you there and then.

Panic attacks can start for many reasons such as stress, overworking, bereavement, family, an accident, childbirth, following surgery and so on but at the time panic strikes for the first time, you think you are doing fine and there seems to be no apparent reason at all. If you have subsequent panic attacks, they too may seem to be unpredictable and random. There is now emerging evidence that anxiety and panic may have a genetic link.

People that have never had a panic attack assume that that it is just a feeling of nervousness or anxiety, but in reality the attacks are far more frightening and overwhelming.

If nervousness is a 3 on a scale of 1-10, then a full blown panic attack is 11. What often happens next is that you begin to associate the Panic attack with the activity or place you were at the time so you start to avoid that situation. This is where the problems begin as each time you are forced into the situation that caused the attack, you automatically assume that it will happen again and start to re-live the feelings and this can lead to agoraphobia and limiting of activities and leading a normal life.

Panic disorder can be frightening, disabling and frustrating, both to recover from and to live with someone suffering with it. Often the sufferer will not go out as they say they 'know' they are going to faint or 'have a heart attack'.

As panic can strike very quickly, and often the trigger is not apparent, there is usually little warning that it is about to happen. It is not surprising therefore, that many sufferers avoid situations that they think or 'know' might cause the panic attacks to happen. This leads to fears of situations or places that last caused anxiety and so the sufferer avoids them at all costs! This is agoraphobia.

The problem here is that it can take months, even years, to re-educate the individual that it is their thoughts and assumptions that are to blame for these attacks and not the place at all but it still takes a long time to return to such places. Getting appropriate and quick medical help is not easy and the slide from anxiety to panic and then to agoraphobia can progress quickly without intervention and support.