Monday April 23, 2007

Other Panic Attack Symptoms

One of the scariest effects of a panic attack is the fear of
suffocating or smothering. It is very common during a panic attack to
feel tightness in the chest and throat. I'm sure everyone can relate
to some fear of losing control of your breathing. From personal
experience, anxiety grows from the fear that your breathing itself
would cease and you would be unable to recover. Can a panic attack
stop our breathing? No.

A panic attack is associated with an increase in the speed and depth
of breathing. This has obvious importance for the defense of the body
since the tissues need to get more oxygen to prepare for action. The
feelings produced by this increase in breathing, however, can include
breathlessness, hyperventilation, sensations of choking or smothering,
and even pains or tightness in the chest. The real problem is that
these sensations are alien to us, and they feel unnatural.

Having experienced extreme panic attacks myself, I remember that on
many occasions, I would have this feeling that I couldn't trust my
body to do the breathing for me, so I would have to manually take over
and tell myself when to breathe in and when to breathe out. Of course,
this didn't suit my body's requirement of oxygen and so the sensations
would intensify—along with the anxiety. It was only when I employed
the technique I will describe for you later, did I let the body
continue doing what it does best—running the whole show.

Importantly, a side-effect of increased breathing, (especially if no
actual activity occurs) is that the blood supply to the head is
actually decreased. While such a decrease is only a small amount and
is not at all dangerous, it produces a variety of unpleasant but
harmless symptoms that include dizziness, blurred vision, confusion,
sense of unreality, and hot flushes.

Other Physical Effects of Panic Attacks:

Now that we've discussed some of the primary physiological causes of
panic attacks, there are a number of other effects that are produced
by the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, none of which are
in any way harmful.

For example, the pupils widen to let in more light, which may result
in blurred vision, or "seeing" stars, etc. There is a decrease in
salivation, resulting in dry mouth. There is decreased activity in the
digestive system, which often produces nausea, a heavy feeling in the
stomach, and even constipation. Finally, many of the muscle groups
tense up in preparation for "fight or flight" and this results in
subjective feelings of tension, sometimes extending to actual aches
and pains, as well as trembling and shaking.

Overall, the fight/flight response results in a general activation of
the whole bodily metabolism. Thus, one often feels hot and flushed
and, because this process takes a lot of energy, the person generally
feels tired and drained.

Mental Manifestations: Are the causes of panic attacks all in my head?
is a question many people wonder to themselves.

The goal of the fight/flight response is making the individual aware
of the potential danger that may be present. Therefore, when
activated, the mental priority is placed upon searching the
surroundings for potential threats. In this state one is
highly-strung, so to speak. It is very difficult to concentrate on any
one activity, as the mind has been trained to seek all potential
threats and not to give up until the threat has been identified. As
soon as the panic hits, many people look for the quick and easiest
exit from their current surroundings, such as by simply leaving the
bank queue and walking outside. Sometimes the anxiety can heighten, if
we perceive that leaving will cause some sort of social embarrassment.

If you have a panic attack while at the workplace but feel you must
press on with whatever task it is you are doing, it is quite
understandable that you would find it very hard to concentrate. It is
quite common to become agitated and generally restless in such a
situation. Many individuals I have worked with who have suffered from
panic attacks over the years indicated that artificial light—such as
that which comes from computer monitors and televisions screens—can
can be one of the causes of panic attacks by triggering them or worsen
a panic attack, particularly if the person is feeling tired or run down.

This is worth bearing in mind if you work for long periods of time on
a computer. Regular break reminders should be set up on your computer
to remind you to get up from the desk and get some fresh air when
possible.

In other situations, when during a panic attack an outside threat
cannot normally be found, the mind turns inwards and begins to
contemplate the possible illness the body or mind could be suffering
from. This ranges from thinking it might have been something you ate
at lunch, to the possibility of an oncoming cardiac arrest.

The burning question is: Why is the fight/flight response activated
during a panic attack even when there is apparently nothing to be
frightened of?

Upon closer examination of the causes of panic attacks, it would
appear that what we are afraid of are the sensations themselves—we are
afraid of the body losing control. These unexpected physical symptoms
create the fear or panic that something is terribly wrong. Why do you
experience the physical symptoms of the fight/flight response if you
are not frightened to begin with? There are many ways these symptoms
can manifest themselves, not just through fear.

For example, it may be that you have become generally stressed for
some reason in your life, and this stress results in an increase in
the production of adrenaline and other chemicals, which from time to
time, would produce symptoms….and which you perceive as the causes of
panic attacks.

This increased adrenaline can be maintained chemically in the body,
even after the stress has long gone. Another possibility is diet,
which directly affects our level of stress. Excess caffeine, alcohol,
or sugar is known for causing stress in the body, and is believed to
be one of the contributing factors of the causes of panic attacks
(Chapter 5 gives a full discussion on diet and its importance).

Unresolved emotions are often pointed to as possible trigger of panic
attacks, but it is important to point out that eliminating panic
attacks from your life does not necessarily mean analyzing your psyche
and digging into your subconscious. The "One Move" technique will
teach you to deal with the present moment and defuse the attack along
with removing the underlying anxiety that sparks the initial anxiety

Monday April 16, 2007

Definition of Anxiety

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.

However, 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, 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.

Fight/Flight Response: One of the root causes of panic attacks?

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. Have you made
the connection between this response and the unusual sensations you
experience during and after a panic attack episode?

Anxiety is 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. This may seem ironic given that you no doubt
feel your anxiety is actually causing you great harm…perhaps the most
significant of all the causes of panic attacks.

However, the anxiety that the fight/flight response created was vital
in the daily survival of our ancient ancestors—when faced with some
danger, an automatic response would take over that propelled them to
take immediate action such as attack or run. Even in today's hectic
world, this is still a necessary mechanism. It comes in useful when
you must respond to a real threat within a split second.

Anxiety is a built-in mechanism to protect us from danger.
Interestingly, it is a mechanism that protects but does not harm—an
important point that will be elaborated upon later.

The Physical Manifestations of a Panic Attack: Other pieces of the
puzzle to understand the causes of panic attacks. Nervousness and
Chemical Effects…

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, they stimulate the whole
body, which has an "all or nothing" effect. This explains why when a
panic attack occurs, the individual often feels a number of different
sensations throughout the body.

The sympathetic system is responsible for releasing the adrenaline
from the adrenal glands on the kidneys. These are small glands located
just above the kidneys. Less known, however, is that the adrenal
glands also release adrenaline, 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. There is always a
period of what would seem increased or continued anxiety, as these
messengers travel throughout the body. Think of them as one of the
physiological causes of panic attacks, if you will.

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.

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, relaxing the body.
This is one of the many built-in protection systems our bodies have
for survival.

You can do your best with worrying thoughts, keeping the sympathetic
nervous system going, but eventually it stops. In time, it becomes a
little smarter than us, and realizes that there really is no danger.
Our bodies are incredibly intelligent—modern science is always
discovering amazing patterns of intelligence that run throughout the
cells of our body. Our body seems to have infinite ways of dealing
with the most complicated array of functions we take for granted. Rest
assured that your body's primary goal is to keep you alive and well.

Not so convinced?

Try holding your breath for as long as you can. 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.

Remember this next time you have a panic attack; he causes of panic
attacks 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.

The interference for your body is nothing more than the sensations of
doing rigorous exercise. Our body is not alarmed by these symptoms.
Why should it be? It knows its own capability. It's our thinking minds
that panic, which overreact and scream in sheer terror! We tend to
fear the worst and exaggerate our own sensations. A quickened heart
beat becomes a heart attack. An overactive mind seems like a close
shave with schizophrenia. Is it our fault? Not really—we are simply
diagnosing from poor information.

Cardiovascular Effects Activity in the sympathetic nervous system
increases our heartbeat rate, speeds up the blood flow throughout the
body, ensures all areas are well supplied with oxygen and that waste
products are removed. This happens in order to prime the body for action.

A fascinating feature of the "fight or flight" mechanism is that blood
(which is channelled from areas where it is currently not needed by a
tightening of the blood vessels) is brought to areas where it is
urgently needed.

For example, should there be a physical attack, blood drains from the
skin, fingers, and toes so that less blood is lost, and is moved to
"active areas" such as the thighs and biceps to help the body prepare
for action.

This is why many feel numbness and tingling during a panic
attack-often misinterpreted as some serious health risk-such as the
precursor to a heart attack. Interestingly, most people who suffer
from anxiety often feel they have heart problems. If you are really
worried that such is the case with your situation, visit your doctor
and have it checked out. At least then you can put your mind at rest.