Panic Attacks
word definitions taken from Wikipedia
Panic attacks are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset and of relatively brief duration. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, reach a peak within 10 minutes, and subside over the next several hours. Often those afflicted will experience significant anticipatory anxiety and limited symptom attacks in between attacks, in situations where attacks have previously occurred.
The effects of a panic attack vary. Some, notably first-time sufferers, may call for emergency services. Many who experience a panic attack, mostly for the first time, fear they are having a heart attack or a nervous breakdown.
Experiencing a panic attack has been said to be one of the most intensely frightening, upsetting and uncomfortable experiences of a person’s life and may take days to initially recover from. Repeated panic attacks are considered a syndrome of panic disorder. Screening tools like Panic Disorder Severity Scale can be used to detect possible cases of disorder, and suggest the need for a formal diagnostic assessment.
Descriptions
Sufferers of panic attacks often report a fear or sense of dying, “going crazy,” or experiencing a heart attack or “flashing vision,” feeling faint or nauseated, a numb sensation throughout the body, heavy breathing (and almost always, hyperventilation), or losing control of themselves. Some people also suffer from tunnel vision, mostly due to blood flow leaving the head to more critical parts of the body in defence. These feelings may provoke a strong urge to escape or flee the place where the attack began (a consequence of the sympathetic “fight-or-flight response”) in which the hormone which causes this response is released in significant amounts. This response floods the body with hormones, particularly epinephrine (adrenaline), that aid it in defending against harm.
A panic attack is a response of the sympathetic nervous system (SNS). The most common symptoms may include trembling, dyspnoea (shortness of breath), heart palpitations, chest pain (or chest tightness), hot flashes, cold flashes, burning sensations (particularly in the facial or neck area), sweating, nausea, dizziness (or slight vertigo), light-headedness, hyperventilation, paraesthesia’s (tingling sensations), sensations of choking or smothering, difficulty moving and derealisation. These physical symptoms are interpreted with alarm in people prone to panic attacks. This results in increased anxiety, and forms a positive feedback loop.
Often the onset of shortness of breath and chest pain are the predominant symptoms; the sufferer incorrectly appraises this as a sign or symptom of a heart attack. This can result in the person experiencing a panic attack seeking treatment in an emergency room.
Panic attacks are distinguished from other forms of anxiety by their intensity and their sudden, episodic nature. They are often experienced in conjunction with anxiety disorders and other psychological conditions, although panic attacks are not usually indicative of a mental disorder.
Triggers and causes
Long-term, predisposing causes — Heredity. Panic disorder has been found to run in families, and this may mean that inheritance plays a strong role in determining who will get it. However, many people who have no family history of the disorder develop it. The onset of panic disorder usually occurs in early adulthood, although it may appear at any age. It occurs more frequently in women and often in people with above average intelligence. Various twin studies where one identical twin has an anxiety disorder have reported an incidence ranging from 31 to 88 per cent of the other twin also having an anxiety disorder diagnosis. Environmental factors such as an overly cautious view of the world expressed by parents and cumulative stress over time have been found to be correlated with panic attacks.
Biological causes — obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, hypoglycaemia, hyperthyroidism, Wilson’s disease, mitral valve prolapse, pheochromocytoma, autism spectrum disorders and inner ear disturbances (labyrinthitis). Parasitic infection can cause psychiatric symptoms.
Phobias — People will often experience panic attacks as a direct result of exposure to a phobic object or situation.
Short-term triggering causes — Significant personal loss, including an emotional attachment to a romantic partner, life transitions, significant life change, and as seen below, stimulants such as caffeine or nicotine, can act as triggers.
Maintaining causes — Avoidance of panic provoking situations or environments, anxious/negative self-talk (“what-if” thinking), mistaken beliefs (“these symptoms are harmful and/or dangerous”), withheld feelings, lack of assertiveness.
Lack of assertiveness — A growing body of evidence supports the idea that those that suffer from panic attacks engage in a passive style of communication or interactions with others. This communication style, while polite and respectful, is also characteristically un-assertive. This un-assertive way of communicating seems to contribute to panic attacks while being frequently present in those that are afflicted with panic attacks.[3]
Medications — Sometimes panic attacks may be a listed side effect of medications such as Ritalin (methylphenidate) or even fluoroquinolone type antibiotics.[9] These may be a temporary side effect, only occurring when a patient first starts a medication, or could continue occurring even after the patient is accustomed to the drug, which likely would warrant a medication change in either dosage, or type of drug. Nearly the entire SSRI class of antidepressants can cause increased anxiety in the beginning of use. It is not uncommon for inexperienced users to have panic attacks while weaning on or off the medication, especially ones prone to anxiety.
Alcohol, medication or drug withdrawal — Various substances both prescribed and unprescribed can cause panic attacks to develop as part of their withdrawal syndrome or rebound effect. Alcohol withdrawal and benzodiazepine withdrawal are the most well known to cause these effects as a rebound withdrawal symptom of their tranquillising properties.
Hyperventilation syndrome — Breathing from the chest may cause overbreathing, exhaling excess carbon dioxide in relation to the amount of oxygen in one’s bloodstream. Hyperventilation syndrome can cause respiratory alkalosis and hypocapnia. This syndrome often involves prominent mouth breathing as well. This causes a cluster of symptoms including rapid heart beat, dizziness, and light-headedness which can trigger panic attacks.
Situationally bound panic attacks — Associating certain situations with panic attacks, due to experiencing one in that particular situation, can create a cognitive or behavioural predisposition to having panic attacks in certain situations (situationally bound panic attacks). It is a form of classical conditioning. Examples of this include college, work, or deployment. See PTSD
Pharmacological triggers — Certain chemical substances, mainly stimulants but also certain depressants, can either contribute pharmacologically to a constellation of provocations, and thus trigger a panic attack or even a panic disorder, or directly induce one. This includes caffeine, amphetamine, alcohol and many more. Some sufferers of panic attacks also report phobias of specific drugs or chemicals, that thus have a merely psychosomatic effect, thereby functioning as drug-triggers by non-pharmacological means.
Chronic and/or serious illness — Cardiac conditions that can cause sudden death such as long QT syndrome; catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia or Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome can also result in panic attacks. This is particularly difficult to manage as the anxiety relates to events that may occur such as cardiac arrest, or if an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator is in situ, the possibility of having a shock delivered. It can be difficult for someone with a cardiac condition to distinguish between symptoms of cardiac dysfunction and symptoms of anxiety. In CPVT, anxiety itself can and does trigger arrythmia.
Current management of panic attacks secondary to cardiac conditions appears to rely heavily on benzodiazepines; selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and/or cognitive behavioural therapy. However, people in this group often experience multiple and unavoidable hospitalisations; in people with these types of diagnoses, it can be difficult to differentiate between symptoms of a panic attack versus cardiac symptoms without an electrocardiogram.
How can Morpheus Associates help?
Hypnotherapy is used successfully to help people deal with a wide range of conditions. It is widely recognised now in its success with helping people with relaxation, and techniques are used to help people manage stress and anxiety associated with many other conditions. The client normally awakes feeling re energised and revitalised, with new hope and a positive frame of mind.
We offer an Initial 15-20 minute consultation which is free. At the end of this consultation you will be asked if you wish to proceed. At which point we will explain the fees per session, relevant to the treatment recommended and how many sessions are suggested as being required. We are located at Clarice House in Ipswich, The Heritage Centre Bury St Edmunds, Clarice House Colchester and Harley Street London. If a course of treatment is recommended, subsequent sessions are offered at a discounted price.Payments are accepted by cash or cheque with guarantee card only.
Please feel free to read our recent testimonials (link) from clients who have had this condition treated by Morpheus Associates
If you are comfortable with the idea, please call us to book an Initial 15-20 minute consultation, at which time you can decide if you feel the treatment offered would possibly help. Call Debbie Crooks on 07840-694743.