Panic Disorder (aka Panic Attack) Examined

The Panic Attack

What is a Panic Attack?

There is no such thing as a Panic Attack. I mean to say this is a misleading Term. You are not being attacked. A Physiological Response that is intended to protect you from danger is not an ‘Attack’. You are not being attacked but instead your body is attempting to protect you from a perceived threat.
When I object to the term ‘Panic Attack’ this is not a trivial complaint about wording because one of the very core problems occurs when someone interprets this well-intended Panic Response as an attack. The person then fears another ‘attack’ which instigates more panic response which they fear, panic, fear..  you see the problem. You are not being attacked.
Panic Disorder?
I also object to the term Panic Disorder. I mean to say that the Panic Response itself, the physiological Response is, in itself, in perfect working order. The only thing we can call a disorder is the timing and necessity of the Panic.  Think of the disorder like you would an overly sensitive smoke-alarm that needlessly activates at only the slightest detection of burnt toast. Your Alarm is working perfectly. The only disorder is the alarm going off too soon and too often.

Some Typical Physiological Sensations during a Panic Response

Here is a list of physiological responses you might feel during a Panic Reaction as they are typically reported in negative and uncomfortable terms. Take a quick glance and see if you recognize some or most of these sensations?

• Dreadful feeling in ‘pit of stomach’ (lower abdomen)
• Short shallow and seemingly constricted breathing, Feel as if a band or rope tightening around chest.
• Rapid heart rate may include sure sense of skipped or irregular heartbeat. Sense of impending Heart Attack.
• Profuse sweating
• Dizziness
• Limbs become stiff and/or feel weak and shaky. Knees trembling. Weak in the knees.
• Blurred vision, tunnel vision, light sensitivity.
• Feeling faint or seemingly losing consciousness.
• Nauseousness, Diarrhea
• Dry mouth, throat tightening as if choking or unable to swallow
• Onset of headache or migraine

Thoughts that might be occurring while in a state of panic:

• Sense of impending doom or even death.
• Frantic search for escape routes.
• Intense fear of impending social embarrassment as result of fainting/vomiting/diarrhea.
• Fear you are becoming mentally insane or ‘losing your mind’.
• Disassociation or Disaffection Disorder – As if becoming detached from yourself and/or reality. Spaced out.

More symptoms could be added to this list but first let me be clear: While no one person might experience all the symptoms – all persons, in panic, will experience most of them to some degree or another.
These are well-intended physiological responses that are working perfectly. They are designed to save your life and protect you and your family. The only reason we consider these unwanted responses and interpret them as an illness besetting upon us is that we are having them too soon, too often and during times when there is no actual threat and no real reason or opportunity to utilize the Panic Response.

Why are you calling the Panic Response a life-saving reaction?

What we have been calling a ‘Panic Response’ is simply the ‘Fight or Flight’ Response.  For 5,000 years of human civilization we have been subject to ongoing surprise attacks by Bears, avalanches and forest fires.  Thank God our ancestors had this amazing physical responses and to instigate them with lightning speed and precision, otherwise, I am not sure mankind could have made it this far!
Suppose you were surprise attacked by a massive Grizzly that charges out of the trees? Now lets take a look at the physical responses you would absolutely love to have and would most likely save your life and the lives of your family.
[Key Point: Compare these Physiological Responses to what we had previously interpreted as 'afflictions' and see them in the light of life-saving Responses:]
In a snap your sympathetic nervous system switches on and effectively ‘bypasses’ your otherwise helpful need to make well thought-out, analytical decision making cognitions. It’s now tripped your physiology into pure reactive instinct and within a fraction of a second!

• Your bloodstream is instantly injected with a straight-up injection of pure hot adrenalin. Rocket fuel for the human being. This most definitely will get your heart pumping alright!
• Blood that would ordinarily be pooled around the stomach for tasks such as digestion now rushes out to the limbs. Its essential it go directly to the ‘action muscles’ ASAP!
• Your ribs brace themselves and quickly start a series of short rapid breaths which are taking in maximum oxygen that you are definitely going need for the intense fighting or flighting about to happen.
• That blood that rushed out of the pit of your stomach is now loading up your limbs and a muscles which are superbly tightening, loading with powerful tension and juicing up for highly intense bursts of pure sugar-burning adrenal fueled punching and/or running!
• Your skin prepares for the intense heat you are going to suddenly generate in that fight or flight by setting off the sprinkler system to maximum cooling capabilities. Sweating!
• Even tiny muscles around your eye do their part – constricting the eyeball so as to give a sort of sort of tunnel-vision. Focus only on what is directly ahead of you.

You are now astonishingly well prepared to deal with that sudden Bear attack! You jumped what seemed like 10 feet in the air and the next thing you knew your legs were hauling down a trail and the only thing you could think about was getting out of there and up a tree and before you knew it you were.. and lived to tell about it!
Now you might understand why I object to the term ‘Panic Attack‘ and why I say that everything we experience in a panic reaction is intended to save your life. Its saved the lives of countless human beings. We probably wouldn’t be here if not for our ancestors being given this amazing physiological reaction! When you experience those sensations then that is all the evidence you need that your sympathetic nervous system is in excellent working condition.
So what is the ‘disorder’?
Its going off way too soon. In Supermarket Queues, Airplanes or Traffic stops or when surrounded by a crowd of people. Minor threats. Your Danger meter is set too high and there might even be a situation where your ‘parasympathetic’ nervous system (this is what takes you back ‘down’) is not lowering all the way.

What if I pass out and faint during a Panic Reaction?

You are not going to pass out. I used to be convinced I was going to faint. I have never fainted and I have never heard of anyone losing consciousness. I have heard of people ‘going down’ because they believed they were about to faint but in fact they always caught themselves arms-out at the floor and later agreed they did not truly faint at all. Think about it – the entire point of panic reaction is to keep you intensely alert and to run for your life and so making you fall into unconsciousness would be the very last thing panic would allow. The sensation is that of increased oxygen, tightening scalp and eyeball muscles constricting.
*The popular image of women fainting from fright in old films had to do with impossibly tight corsets.
*The only exception I can think of would be people with extremely low blood pressure and in this case fainting serves the purpose of laying them horizontal so blood gets back to their brain. This has nothing to do with Panic at all. You will not pass out or faint from a Panic Attack.
What if I have a Heart Attack?
More good news – You are not having a heart attack during a panic response. Your heart is just beating very rapidly. Just think of it as free exercise. What fakes us into believing there is palpitations or irregular heartbeats can be blamed on funny effect felt in the chest and ribcage as they are tightening and resetting themselves for fight or flight, quick breathing and fast-twitching strength. This creates a ‘quiver’ that is often felt right in the same general area that you expect your heart is located. Yes, your heart is most definitely racing hard and fast thanks to the adrenalin dumped into your bloodstream. If you think you are having irregular beats during a Panic Reaction then I highly encourage you to try and take your own pulse during a Panic Response or have someone do it for you and be surprised that it is not irregular or skipping beats. If you have a heart condition then by all means see your Doctor but understand that the rapid heart beat of a Panic Response is not an impending heart attack.
Can you die from a Panic Reaction?
The best news yet – you are definitely not dying. Your body is actually inducing its maximum life force and everything it can muster to keep you as alive and as far from death as you can get here on Earth! That is the very purpose of the panic response. You will hear people having gone through very harrowing experiences saying “I have never felt more alive!”. Exactly. You are more alive than ever during a Panic Reaction!

Are there things you should not being doing in a Panic Reaction?

Contrary to popular opinion – you do not need to be inhaling any more oxygen. This will almost certainly make things worse and even lead to hyperventilating. The actual problem is that you already have become loaded on more oxygen than you actually used up. Since you did not run or fight for your life, the oxygen is turning into CO2. Lots of it. Please do not start taking in huge inhalations of air. In fact, the old trick of breathing in and out into a paper bag really is the best prescription at this moment. After a Panic Reaction you would want to be exhaling for a slightly longer count than you are inhaling. The important thing is that you most definitely do not need to lean forward in a chair and begin taking in huge gulps of oxygen. Please don’t. No need to start hyperventilating.
*Key Point: You do not need to sit in a chair, lean forward and take in big inhales of air. Instead, you need to exhale a bit more than you are inhaling.

Another ‘what not to do’ reminder:

Do not attempt to fight against an unwelcome Panic Response as this will lead to a self-perpetuating circle of panic response followed by panic at the response which fuels more panic response and so on. Simply put, do not panic at the panic.

How can I prevent unwanted Panic Reactions?

Well honestly you would never really want to prevent Panic Response altogher because a day might come when a Bus comes wheeling around a corner and for once you will entirely happy that your physiology induced a well timed Panic Response! Having said that, I came across the most unusual and counter-intuitive way to eliminate Panic. I deliberately tried to invoke a Panic Response. Let me repeat that. I deliberately tried to invoke a Panic. Let me tell you how this first happened. I was once again caught at a busy intersection behind a red light and with cars crowding around me. This had been one of my most constant moments for a panic response but this time around I was so tired of panic attacks I literally started mocking my own condition. As if taunting myself. I remember saying, sarcastically and out loud “Oh great.. here you come stupid Panic Attack! Oh wonderful here let me freaking start it for you this time! Out of sheer frustration I was egging it on. “Yeah.. here.. come on, start the rapid heartbeat.. there ya go.. hey why don’t I get this shallow breathing started now huh? figuring I might as well get it over with! Even at the peak of my panic I was applying sarcastic anger saying out loud “Oh how cute.. now I’m going to ‘faint’ again. I guess I should be scared of the old false fainting alarm as usual! I didn’t realize it at the time but I had done something helpful. Oddly (so I thought) I experienced the same intersection the next day and my usual ‘panic attack’ was rather dull and weak. I even tried to mock it out of me again but there wasn’t much. Two days later I was in an even worse traffic jam at the same intersection and was barely agitated. I didn’t quite understand how it worked but I figured I was somehow breaking the pattern. I wanted to try it with other scenarios I had difficulty with. I started small and picked a minor panic inducing situation and I willfully tried to bring on Panic. Tried to make my heart beat faster. Imagined all the symptoms and tried to ‘will them’ into action. This took a bit of finesse but the idea was to try and make the sensations come on before they typically would on their own. I stepped this up over about a dozen increasinly difficult situations. I don’t recall ever having a full-blown Panic Reaction since then. I have no idea why that works but there you go.

Is there a permanent solution to eliminating unnecessary Panic Reactions?

Yes. The real underlying issue is anxiety. This is what is really pushing your mercury levels higher and higher until there is very little space between a controlled state and a panic state. It is general anxiety that keeps you pushed up against the Panic Alarm bell.