When Panic Attacks: Holding on to Hope

When panic attacks, you could feel a sudden surge of fear. The fear can cause you to feel suffocated, nauseous and sick. You may hyperventilate and tremble. As your heart palpitates exceedingly fast and as you feel tightness in your chest, you may even think you are having a heart attack or that you are not clear minded. This is why a panic attack is considered the most extreme form of anxiety.

It is natural to experience occasional panic attacks. The fear sets in motion the physiologic processes or your body’s “escape” responses. The pounding heart will increase blood flow, bringing in more oxygen to your muscles and glands. This will mobilize and break your glucose down to provide the energy needed, powering your “fight or flight” reflex and protecting yourself from an imminent danger.

Frequent panic attacks, however, aren’t good for your brain and body. This can happen if your “fight or flight” response system is “out of order,” so it goes off, triggering false alarms, even when there is no real danger. Untreated, the attacks can worsen. It can increase your risks for panic disorder, depression, other anxiety disorders, worse episodes of panic attacks, and other emotional issues. It may also lead to social isolation and the disruption of your life.

You don’t have to live with the difficult symptoms or wait for them to worsen. If you are experiencing panic attacks, don’t lose hope. Panic attacks can be treated.

Panic Attack: What Is It?

What is a panic attack? It is an episode of intense fear that is triggered by a chain of physical and emotional reactions. It is not just an ordinary or occasional fear. Dr. Jason Schiffman of Psychology Today describes a full-blown panic attack as “not just a strong feeling of anxiety but rather an explosion of terror that the brain reserves for only the most horrifying events.” It can be helpful when there is a real danger. It can, however, unnecessarily disrupt your functioning when the attacks are happening with frequency, intensity or there is no real danger.

Unlike anxiety that can cause you to feel scared of bad things that might happen, panic can cause you to feel that something terrible is ongoing. The exact causes of panic attacks are not clear, but upsetting/menacing thoughts or experiences, and physical sensations are recognized contributors. Your biological makeup or genetic predispositions are also factors that may leave you more sensitive or “tuned-in” to your alarm systems, and therefore more prone to false alarms. An introverted personality, as well as a tendency to “bottle up” feelings may also lead to intensified tensions that may later surface as panic.

Panic attacks can progress pretty quickly, typically peaking in 10 to 15 minutes. The aftereffects, though, can persist, then it can difficult for your body to return to its regular physical and emotional state after an attack. In the next few seconds, the chain reaction or series of physiological processes could be underway. Once underway, this could be impossible to stop or for it to subside. When panic attacks happen with frequency, it can lead to the altering of the ways you behave, think and feel. You may also run the risk of developing panic disorder.

What Is Panic Disorder?

Though a single panic attack may only last briefly, the episode can leave a lasting imprint. Aside from its lingering aftereffects, going back to your natural state becomes difficult, the explosive terror that you feel during the attack can damage your self-esteem. Since panic attacks can happen anytime and anywhere, it leaves you vulnerable and exposed to the possibility of attacks. The memory of the explosive fear and terror can shake you up and take an emotional toll, even before the attack. This is why it can change your behavior and the ways you think and feel. This is a sign that you are entering the realm of panic disorder.

Panic disorder is a type of anxiety that is characterized by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual as “recurring panic attacks with anxiety and worry in between attacks, living in constant or near-constant fear of having another attack for at least one month following an attack.” The attacks can happen with no apparent trigger, so you are constantly worried about having another attack.

The fear is so intense it can interfere with your everyday functioning. It can cause you to avoid all possible triggers, to the point of changing jobs, hobbies and other interest.
Panic attacks can even lead to other types of phobia, such as agoraphobia or “the fear of being in open places or crowds where one might experience a panic attack and not be able to find help or easily escape.” Ultimately, panic disorder can impact your emotional and physical health, lowering your quality of life.

How do you know if your panic attacks have become more complicated, evolving into panic disorder? According to Help Guide, you can recognize panic disorder if you:

  • Experience frequent, unexpected panic attacks that aren’t tied to a specific situation
  • Worry a lot about having another panic attack
  • Are behaving differently because of the panic attacks, such as avoiding places where you’ve previously panicked

The Telltale Symptoms of a Panic Attack

“Panic attacks are pretty scary; I thought I was having a heart attack and dying, having no idea what was happening to me,” confesses one clinical hypnotherapist who went through it for about a decade before she finally received therapy. Heart attack and dying – these are scary words. For a hypnotherapist to lay helpless in the face of a panic attack, believing that something physically dangerous is occurring, show how its symptoms must indeed be horrible.

What are the symptoms of a panic attack that can give you these sensations? According to Psychology Today, the human “escape” reflexes engage processes that result in the following set of symptoms during a panic attack:

  • Increased heart rate or palpitations
  • Sweating
  • Trembling or shaking
  • Shortness of breath or a feeling of being smothered
  • Choking sensations
  • Chest pain or discomfort
  • Nausea
  • Dizziness or lightheadedness
  • Feelings of unreality or being detached from oneself
  • Numbness or tingling sensations, particularly in the extremities or around the lips
  • Chills or hot flashes

If panic attacks occasionally happen, for a justifiable reason and without complications or further episodes, relax –that’s okay. What could be troubling is when the panic attacks are becoming intense, recurrent or there are no real dangers. Once the attacks start to impact your functioning or trigger significant changes in behavior, seek professional help with haste before these become worse or start to run the risk of developing panic disorder.

Counseling: In the Quest for Hope and Calm

When panic attacks, the perceived threat to your well-being can seem so real and current, it is difficult to quell the terror that engulfs you. Believe it or not, though, panic attacks are not dangerous, and you don’t need medication to come out of them. Panic attacks respond remarkably well to therapy, such as talk therapy and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) provided by an experienced counselor/therapist independently contracted with Carolina Counseling Services – Fayetteville, NC.

Counseling can help curb panic attacks. With the help of a CCS-contracted therapist, you can figure out the triggers of your panic reactions. Once you understand the triggers, these will have less influence on your reactions. Counseling can help you realize that the dangers are not real and that the attacks won’t really hurt you. With the assistance of your therapist, you can work progressively through your fear until they seem less terrifying. So, start curbing your intense fears – call Carolina Counseling Services – Fayetteville, NC today!

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