I know this may be a dumb question, but i’ve always wondered what the biological reason for panic attacks was. Is it because our brains are tricked into going into fight or flight modes? If that’s the case then wouldn’t you just feel adrenaline? And I know i’m not speaking for everyone, but for myself at least- panic attacks do not feel like bursts of adrenaline. They feel like i’m having a heart attack and I can’t shake the scary feeling of impending doom :/
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There is no one cause. Why you get a panic attack can be heredity, how you are raised or just hormones. Why you get panic attacks and what triggers it, depends on the person. The only thing we know are the symptoms and that our brains make stress hormones. The triggers can be very subtle. It could come from drinking coffee or just seeing something that triggers it. Sometimes nothing happened and you just have a disbalance of neurotransmitters.
Panic attacks are exactly what you supposed: it’s part of your nervous system going into fight-or-flight. That’s more the “what” than the “why” though.
“Why” does one person get panic attacks, while another does not?
The subconscious mind is vast and powerful. I am not afraid of flying; I’ve flown many many times with no issues. But, one time a couple of years ago, just before take-off, my pulse went to 180, I started sweating, and I thought, “Maybe I’m having a heart attack?” I did not feel scared though.
After takeoff it passed. Later, my doc said it was likely a panic attack. My GF (who has a psych degree) confirmed this.
Why did it happen? Why just that once, but not any other time?
Only reason I can think of is that I had been watching a lot of YT videos about famous plane crashes, in the months before that flight. But it still doesn’t make a lot of sense, because afterwards I flew many more times and never re-experienced that.
So who knows, really.
It’s an extremely basic brain signalling system that goes back hundreds of millions of years. It’s meant to preserve your life.
In most people and most animals that’s when it tends to activate. But animal brains have become complex enough where brains can rewire perception of what is and isn’t important, so you can end up with this pathway triggering for mostly useless reasons.
> Is it because our brains are tricked into going into fight or flight modes?
It’s because your brains perceive a stimulus that it believes is immediately threatening to your survival. It can happen because of a physical or social threat.
> If that’s the case then wouldn’t you just feel adrenaline?
Not necessarily. Adrenaline is useless unless there are other brain functions that respond to the increase in the chemical. Adrenaline is directly responsible for contracting blood vessels to focus more on major muscle groups. This is why adrenaline is injected during anaphylactic shock when the blood vessels dilate and essentially just “spill out” into the body.
Also, nothing in the body happens without the brain. The brain triggers the release of adrenaline, so the brain has already perceived and started reacting to the threat before adrenaline is released.
> They feel like i’m having a heart attack
The heart palpitations are a product of adrenaline while the tight chest feeling is from the brain contracting chest muscles and other muscles to make them harder to protect your vital organs. Remember that this is related to adrenaline pushing more blood to your major muscle groups. Some people even get light headed because hyperventilation causes even more blood vessel contraction, leading to less oxygen to the brain.
The feeling of impending doom is entirely in the brain. During panic the amygdala is very active. The main function of this region is to keep you safe, and a feeling of impending doom is a strong motivator to get out of your current circumstance.
A panic attack is characterized by a sudden onset of intense fear or discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes and includes at least four of the following symptoms: heart palpitations, sweating, shaking, shortness of breath, feelings of choking, chest pain or discomfort, nausea or abdominal pain, feeling dizzy or lightheaded and fear of losing control or “going crazy.”
Panic attacks can happen without any prior warning sign and can be triggered by anything that causes anxiety. Once someone experiences a panic attack, they may start to worry about having another one which can lead to avoidance behaviors and further anxiety. It’s not uncommon for people who suffer from panic disorder to also experience agoraphobia (a fear of public places) as well as other phobias. Panic disorder affects approximately 3% of adults in the United States every year. Women are twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with panic disorder.
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