What Are The main Causes of Panic Attacks?

In short, anxiety attacks causes are due to high levels of anxiety within the body  Now this may sound rather obvious so let me explain in a little more detail…..

In order to understand this we need to know exactly what anxiety is. Also comprehending how and why anxiety crops up will help you defeat panic attacks once and for all!

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Anxiety is defined as a state of apprehension or fear resulting from the anticipation of a real or imagined threat, event, or situation. It is one of the most common human emotions experienced by people at some point in their lives, and is probably the most basic of emotions known to humans and animals alike, and by its nature, although an unpleasant feeling, it is by no means dangerous in itself.

Having said this, most people who have never experienced a panic attack, or extreme anxiety, fail to realize the terrifying nature of the experience. Extreme dizziness, blurred vision, tingling and feelings of breathlessness—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

When these sensations occur and people do not understand why anxiety attack causes happen, they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition. The threat of losing complete control seems very real and naturally very terrifying.

I am sure most of you have heard of the fight/flight response as an explanation for one of the root causes of panic attacks. Well anxiety is just a response to a danger or threat.

It is so named because all of its effects are aimed toward either fighting or fleeing from the danger. Thus, the sole purpose of anxiety is to protect the individual from harm. Now this may seem a little ironic given that you no doubt feel your anxiety attacks causes are instilling you great harm. However the most significant thing to take on board is that this fight or flight response, known as anxiety is in fact an inbuilt automatic protection system.

So if there is nothing to worry about, then how come anxiety attacks causes the sufferer a real terrifying experience?

In order to answer this question, we need to understand a little about what goes on in the brain……

When confronted with danger, the brain sends signals to a section of the nervous system. It is this system that is responsible for gearing the body up for action and also calms the body down and restores equilibrium. To carry out these two vital functions, the autonomic nervous system has two subsections, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

Although I don’t want to become too “scientific,” having a basic understanding of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system will help you understand the causes of panic attacks.

The sympathetic nervous system is the one we tend to know all too much about because it primes our body for action, readies us for the “fight or flight” response, while the parasympathetic nervous system is the one we love dearly as it serves as our restoring system, which returns the body to its normal state.

When either of these systems is activated, through anxiety attacks causes- such as high levels of anxiety they stimulate the whole body, which has an “all or nothing” effect. This explains why when the onset a panic attack occurs the individual often feels a number of different sensations running throughout the body at the same time.

The sympathetic system releases adrenaline from the adrenal glands on the kidneys which functions as the body’s chemical messengers to keep the activity going. When a panic attack begins, it does not switch off as easily as it is turned on, and because of this there is always a period of what would seem increased or continued anxiety, as these messengers travel throughout the body.

After a period of time, the parasympathetic nervous system gets called into action. Its role is to return the body to normal functioning once the perceived danger is gone. The parasympathetic system is the system we all know and love, because it returns us to a calm relaxed state, and therefore reverts anxiety attacks causes.

When we engage in a coping strategy that we have learned, for example, a relaxation technique, we are in fact willing the parasympathetic nervous system into action. A good thing to remember is that this system will be brought into action at some stage whether we will it or not. The body cannot continue in an ever-increasing spiral of anxiety. It reaches a point where it simply must kick in, thus relaxing the body. This is one of the many built-in protection systems our bodies have for survival.

Our body seems to have infinite ways of dealing with the most complicated array of functions we take for granted. It is because of this that your body’s primary goal is to keep you alive and well.

Not so convinced? Then Try holding your breath for as long as you can……

You see no matter how strong your mental will is, it can never override the will of the body. This is good news—no matter how hard you try to convince yourself that you are gong to die from a panic attack, you won’t. Your body will override that fear and search for a state of balance. There has never been a reported incident of someone dying from a panic attack.

So remember the next time you have a panic or anxiety attack; anxiety attacks causes cannot do you any physical harm. Your mind may make the sensations continue longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance. In fact, balance (homeostasis) is what our body continually strives for.