Panic and Fear

 

Most people experience anxiety at some time in their lives, where they may feel apprehensive, uneasy or nervous. Whilst this might cause discomfort, it can also have the benefit of enhancing alertness or motivation, such as sitting an exam. A more intense and often debilitating condition, however, is panic.

Understanding panic is best explained in terms understanding fear, and of the natural and often helpful responses we have to our perception of danger. Fear is the response to a dangerous situation, where we are threatened in some way. Our body is ‘wired’ via our autonomic nervous system to prepare itself to take appropriate action when it senses danger, via what is referred to the ‘fight/flight’ response. This response involves the body preparing itself physically to either fight off danger, or to escape. This physical preparation comes via thought or perception message – if the body perceives danger, the ‘fight/flight’ response is activated.

Sometimes, our body sends and receives false alarms. That is, we perceive danger when danger doesn’t exist. This is when we experience panic. Our experience of a panic attack can mimic the fear response of brief but intense discomfort, but it is triggered by a mis-perception of danger.

One may experience numerous bodily responses to fear or panic, including trembling, sweating, shortness of breath, pounding heat, dizziness, nausea, digestive complaints, chest pains, hot flushes or chills, thoughts of going crazy, a sense of detachment to the surrounding environment, fear of dying.

Whilst panic attacks come under the broad umbrella of anxiety, the sensations experienced during a panic attack are much more severe. A panic attack will often peak within 10 minutes, it is usually very uncomfortable or frightening, and people often have a strong need to escape, or admit themselves to hospital for fear they are suffering a heart attack.

For those who suffer with panic attacks, their prolonged anxiety often relates to their fear of anticipating the next panic attack. Panic Disorder is usually diagnosed when the panic attacks occur unexpectedly. People sometimes avoid places or situations for fear of experiencing a panic attack, which is also referred to as agoraphobia.

The impact of a panic attack or the ‘fight /flight’ fear response includes physiological, behavioural, and cognitive or thought processes. Physiological responses include increased heart rate, changes in the depth of breathing, the redistribution of blood to areas where it is need most, increased sweating, widening of the pupils, decreased activity of the digestive system, muscle tension in an effort to facilitate fight or flight. A significant behavioural impact is avoidance of situations that remind one of where or when they experienced a panic attack, or of situations or activities they believe might trigger a panic attack. Cognitive impacts relate to a seemingly relentless search for potential threats, which in turn compromises one’s ability to concentrate on usual activities. This can also lead to unhelpful thought processes such as catastrophic thinking, where over-estimating the chance of threat leads to debilitating negative thinking.

Phobias occur when there is an intense fear in the absence of a real physical threat. The thought processing then focuses on the persistent belief of the presence of a perceived threat.

It is important to be aware that anxiety impacts many people, and that approximately 10% of people experience unexpected panic attacks. For more information visit www.adavic.org.au.

If you would like a consultation regarding your condition you can contact us at Jumpinghurdles@netspace.net.au

 

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