Explain Panic attacks to me ..

Why do people have panic attacks for no reason they can think of?

Is there an underlying issue always ?

I don't think there's an easy answer to this one, Murf. I asked Jon to tell me what goes on in his head when he has one so I could try to explain for you - all he could say was "I get scared and then my brain goes nuts."

As you probably know from my other posts, Jon has Asperger's Syndrome. I can only conclude that in his case, the panic attacks are possibly linked to that, as quite often he has them with no other obvious "cause".

I think very often there is an underlying cause. Even something that that person doesn't remember. It must be awful to suffer from them.
I think something ordinary to you or me can trigger panic attacks in another person.... a noise, the sight of something or just the mere prospect of encountering something.
The mind is a very complex thing which we don't fully understand. I think some kind of therapy helps but it means facing up to fears which can be really hard.

There are many different psychotherapy models and therefore different ways of thinking about panic attacks.

But the one most used for short term therapy in the NHS is CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy). The thinking is this ...

Anxiety is crucial to our survival. If you were faced with a threat to your safety, for example a lion, your body would prepare you to fight or to flee. The hormone adrenaline is realised into the boodstream bringing about bodily changes i.e. tense muscles, rapid breathing, racing heart, sweating. What happens in a panic attack is that the person reacts in this way to something which is not normally thought of as threatening.

Why someone reacts in this way probably originates in the person's life experience. When you react to something non-threatening in this way you are not responding from an adult place i.e. with adult reasoning and logic.

These symptoms cannot harm you and will pass fairly quickly but worrying about the symptoms generates more anxiety and they will be longer lived. The more you face up to what is causing you anxiety and find you will not be harmed the less you will suffer a panic attack in those circumstances.

I've had panic attacks in the past, probably caused by depression.....Such a horrible feeling.....

Are you having panic attacks?

Some people are more prone to anxiety it can be inherited like in my family, the anxiety might not have a specific enviromental cause but you find your self coming up with things to be anxious about.
Also because fight or flight is no longer useful to most modern day situations there is often no quick way to find a safe solution to an issue, so the anxiety stays with you and can get worse.
You can also become fearful of becoming anxious ''fear of the fear''.
I've had panic attacks / anxiety attacks althoughnot really bad ones. You feel it building up, get scared as you know whats happening but are out of control.

I suffered with panic attacks for nearly a year,
The first one came out of nowhere while I was at work for no reason I could think of, but after that I started getting them daily out of fear of having one (viscous circle)
Looking back I do think there was an underlying issue from the beginning, although I felt fine at the time I think it was a build up of months of stress, worrying and a history of depression.

i have never been comfortable in a crowded enviroment. but since i had my heart probs it seems to have got worse. i physically feel sick,hot, my heart starts pounding, my head feels as if its going to burst. so i have to make sure i know where the exit is, so i can get to it.horrible feeling. i can do crowds outside. but inside, blugh.

My sister has panic attacks and she fairly recently stopped drinking coffee and has said since she stopped drinking coffee she has noticed she isn't having them as frequently!

I've had a few mild panic attacks, but they've always been triggered by the doctor's office. Have ended up bawling and trembling in the dentist's chair for 15 minutes because the numbing shot freaked me out. That was miserable; I can't even imagine how it must be for someone to suffer them every day.