Panic Attacks - Understanding Panic

All of the panic symptoms described in the first two pages are nothing more than an extreme form of fear. Fear is our body's natural response to a situation perceived as threatening. Fear can range from mild anxiety (which can be helpful when there is a goal, like passing an exam) through to full blown panic.

But why have fear at all when it's such an unpleasant feeling? In a way, it is a bit like pain. If you were to break your ankle, it would feel very painful, which would be a warning to you not to walk on it. If you heard a noise downstairs at night, you might feel frightened, which is a warning that you might have to deal with a dangerous situation. Fear is very useful. It prepares your body for action. This has been called the "fight or flight" response. So that when you feel fear, what is happening is that your body is preparing to fight or run away from the thing it feels threatened by, or possibly to stay completely still and wait for the threat to pass.

If we take the example of the noise downstairs. Let us suppose it is a burglar, as you fear. You may wish to stay absolutely still, so as to prevent the burglar from attacking you. You might want to go and challenge him or you might need to run away should he come after you. Your fear response would help with any of these. When you are frightened you breathe more quickly so that you can get lots of oxygen to your muscles. Your heart beats faster to pump the blood faster round your body. Your digestive system closes down to allow your body to concentrate on the more immediate threat. This is your body's normal healthy reaction to situations where your body feels under threat It is your body's alarm system.

The problem with panic attacks is that they usually occur when there is no obvious physical threat at all. Your body is reacting as though it was about to be attacked when in reality it is not. In other words it is a false alarm. It is a bit like the annoying smoke detector that goes off at all the wrong times, because it is sensitive to small amounts of smoke. Or the burglar alarm that goes off because of the cat. Or even more annoying, the car alarm that is triggered by the wind. These are all alarms that can be triggered when there is in fact no danger. The same can be the case with your body's "alarm" system. Sometimes it can be set off when there is no real danger.

The problem is that our body's "alarm system" was designed many, many years ago, when people had to cope with dangers in order to survive. Nowadays, we are rarely faced with the sort of life or death threats our ancestors faced. We have very different threats, mainly related to stress. Financial worries, overworking, moving house,  divorce for example,  can  all  be
stressful, and can raise our anxiety levels to the point where our "alarm system" is triggered. It is abit like a "stress" thermometer - which when it reaches a certain level results in panic. Whilst a panic attack may be unpleasant, it is not dangerous. Quite the opposite. It is a system designed to protect us, not harm us.

SUMMARY:;  Understanding Panic.

Panic is a form of fear. It is our body's alarm system signaling threat. It prepares our body to fight or run away from danger. But as there is no physical danger it is a false alarm.

A panic attack may be unpleasant but it is not dangerous.