Panic Attacks

Panic disorder is characterized by recurrent panic attacks (ie, periods of intense fear of abrupt onset peaking in intensity within 10 min). If you experience four of the following at a given time, you are experiencing a panic attack:

• Palpitations, pounding heart, or accelerated heart rate
• Sweating
• Trembling or shaking
• Shortness of breath or dyspnea
• Sensation of choking
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Nausea or abdominal distress
• Feeling dizzy, unsteady, lightheaded, or faint
• Derealization or depersonalization
• Fear of losing control or going crazy
• Fear of dying
• Paresthesias
• Chills or hot flashes

What causes panic attacks?

Although there is no one specific cause for panic attacks, like most other emotional symptoms, panic is understood to be the result of a combination of biological vulnerabilities, ways of thinking, and social stressors.

According to one theory of panic disorder, the body's normal "alarm system," the set of mental and physical mechanisms that allows a person to respond to a threat, tends to be triggered unnecessarily, when there is no danger.

 Scientists don't know exactly why this happens or why some people are more susceptible to the problem than others.

Panic disorder has been found to run in families, and this may mean that inheritance (genetics) plays a strong role in determining who will get it.

Panic attacks disrupt  your life and are generally symptoms of a deeper problem that can be solved.