What Causes Panic Attacks
In order to begin to control or eliminate your panic, it’s important for you to know what causes panic attacks.
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When you know what causes a panic attack, you can be prepared and alert to the signs and symptoms. Awareness is the first step to making any kind of change, for if you are not aware, then you can’t change it.
A panic attack is a sudden surge of severe, overwhelming anxiety and fear. Your heart may pound or it becomes difficult to breathe. You feel dizzy and sick to your stomach. You may even think like you’re dying or going crazy. And the worst part of it is that panic attacks may occur any time, anywhere, unpredictably!
Although exactly what causes panic attacks and panic disorders is unclear, both the mind and the body are involved.
Stress Causes Panic Attacks
Stressful life transitions such as getting married, having children, entering the job market, etc. may cause panic attacks. The death of a loved one, a divorce, or job loss can also trigger panic attacks.
Physiology Causes Panic Attacks
Panic attacks may have physical causes. Some research suggests the tendency to have panic attacks may be partially
There also appears to be a connection with experiencing major illnesses and having panic attacks. An increase in the frequency of panic attacks has been seen in some women during pregnancy.
If you’re noticing symptoms of panic, it’s important to see a doctor to rule out the following health conditions that could be what causes panic attacks in you:
- Mitral valve prolapse, a minor cardiac problem that occurs when one of the heart’s valves doesn’t close correctly
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hypoglycemia
- Stimulant use (amphetamines, cocaine, caffeine)
- Medication withdrawal
The following non-exhaustive list of what causes panic attacks is here for your reference.
- Adjustment disorder
- Agoraphobia
- Amphetamine abuse
- Anxiety disorders – certain other types of anxiety disorders can lead to panic attacks:
- Chemical poisoning – Jet Fuel-4
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Cocaine overdose
- Ecstasy withdrawal
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
- Hyperventilation
- Inborn amino acid metabolism disorder
- Marijuana abuse
- Marijuana overdose
- Myoclonic dystonia
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Panic disorder
- Panic disorder with agoraphobia [link]
- Panic disorder without agoraphobia
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- Rett’s syndrome
- Separation anxiety disorder
- Social phobia (affects over 10 million Americans)
- Specific phobia
- Stress
- Substance-induced anxiety disorder
Medications Known to Cause Panic Attacks
- Cannabis
- Catovit
- Charas
- Ecstasy
- Hash
- Marijuana
- Mazindol
- Prolintane
- Sanorex
These causes of panic attacks affect over 1 million Americans:
- Agoraphobia
- Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Panic disorder
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Panic Attacks Can Be What Causes Panic Attacks!
A person with a panic disorder, meaning that the panic attacks recur often, may develop a fear of having another attack. This can become what causes a panic attack for the person, and the cycle repeats. Panic attacks are highly treatable – it’s important that you take some action today!
Summary
There are many possible causes of panic attacks, ranging from stress to life changes to substance abuse and side effects of medication.
By knowing what causes panic attacks, you can better control your environment and your state of mind, helping you avoid the situations that cause panic in you.
Next: How to Overcome Panic Attacks
This website cannot, and should not, stand alone as the sole medical or psychological intervention for any disorder. Any individual with a medical or psychological problem should first consult a qualified health care provider for diagnosis and professional advice. This website is intended only to provide general information and is not intended as an exhaustive source of information for the topics discussed. This website and these articles do not replace your relationship with any health care professional you are consulting with or consult with in the future.
February 16th, 2010 at 3:23 pm
What Causes Panic Attacks http://bit.ly/cR4oDY
April 25th, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Panic Solutions – Natural Cures For Anxiety and Panic…
A panic attack is a sudden surge of severe, overwhelming anxiety and fear. Your heart may pound or it becomes difficult to breathe. You feel dizzy and sick to your stomach. You may even think like you’re dying or going crazy. And the worst part of it i…
July 27th, 2011 at 12:31 am
Thanks for the informative post.. and thanks for adding my comment to the blog.
July 28th, 2011 at 1:50 am
[...] about what causes panic [...]
July 30th, 2011 at 12:17 pm
You obviously have tons of good information on panic & anxiety. You confirm what I’ve always taken as a “rule of thumb” regarding the difference between panic & anxiety. Stress disorders, including PTSD & Chronic Stress (and probably others I just came across on Wikipedia) can be tied in, but aren’t always the cause, but the effect.
In my case I believe my panic/anxiety disorders are genetic, or at least so deeply-seated that I do not recall a time when I didn’t have the symptoms. My mother has shown signs of it, as well as her sister. She also told me, after reading about it a bit once I was diagnosed, that her mother (who died before I was born) had some of the same symptoms.
Which reminds me: I noticed the sentence under the heading “Physiology Causes Panic Attacks” is cut off. I suspect you accidentally deleted the word “genetic” or something similar from the end.
A friend of mine also suffered from anxiety & panic attacks. As you described here & in other articles on this site, his anxiety increased with the fear of having another attack. He managed to track down precisely the mechanisms that were failing, specifically the glands that shut down the adrenal & related glands. I don’t know what kind of specialist he saw to find that out, but it would be interesting for me to know what’s going on.
August 7th, 2011 at 5:57 pm
Very nice. I like your article. This article is very interesting and rewarding for me personally. Panic attacks and anxiety disorder become everyone’s problems on certain conditions and of course we are not comfortable if it is in such condition. Everyone wants to overcome this panic attack and anxiety disorder. Thank you.
August 7th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Thanks Joe. I appreciate your input.
Even though your panic/anxiety may be genetic, with behavior we can alter our response. It does take some work – it starts by being present, and just noticing what’s going on with you. In that moment you have the opportunity to interrupt the usual response.
Regarding genetics, you may be interested in a book entitled “The Biology of Belief” by Bruce Lipton. He’s a geneticist who has concluded that our thoughts can alter our genetic makeup. Check it out.
Perhaps you could ask your friend what he did to find out the source of his problem and share them with us.
Regards,
Dan
August 7th, 2011 at 6:32 pm
Feny,
you are so right. We all want to help the people we love who suffer from panic and anxiety. Thanks for visiting.
Dan
December 10th, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Cut the stress you cut out the panic
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