Risks of Panic Attacks

Panic attacks are manifestations of panic disorders. They are characterized both by mental symptoms, like feeling of dying, of getting insane or of losing control, and by physical symptoms like pain in the chest, fainting, dizziness, numbness, accelerated rhythm of the heart and difficulties in breathing, even suffocation.  

There are a lot of factors which may trigger panic attacks. The previous events or experiences have a powerful effect on human brain. This is why people who have been experienced traumatic events are prone to develop panic attack. Also people who have been abused in their childhood or adolescence are likely to be affected by this condition. 

Another factor which contributes to the development of panic attacks and panic disorder, respectively, is the genetic one. According to specialists, people who had in their family relatives suffering from panic attacks can inherit this condition. 

Because panic disorder is a condition which affects the brain, it was discovered that those who experience this condition have differences in brain structures. Also, their brain may contain a smaller or a larger quantity of certain chemical substance than a normal brain, while in some brain areas the activity may be more intense than usual. 

There are persons who are sensitive to anxiety. This means that they realize more than other people that anxiety may harm their body or their mind. These persons tend to be more exposed to panic attacks than other persons, who do not have this sensitivity. 

Panic disorder is a rather rare condition, only 5 percent of the population being exposed to it. In order to be labeled as panic disorder sufferer a person must have more, repeated panic attacks over a certain period of time, which means that not all people who have panic attacks suffer from panic disorder.  

The panic disorder sets in when:  

·         the person who has already had one or more panic attacks is under constant fear that he may experience another panic attack; 

·         he avoids places, persons and situations which he thinks responsible for a panic attack; 

·         avoid crowded places, where the occurrence of a panic attack may be embarrassing, face-threatening or even dangerous for his life and for the others’; 

·         the patient goes on a regular basis to the emergency room, because he thinks he has developed a serious physical disease.             

Adolescents and youngsters are the main categories of age affected by panic disorders. Once this condition is set a long period of time may pass until discovered and treated. Often, it develops as a result of other anxiety disorders, such as major depression or bipolar illness.  

Like all the other anxiety disorders, panic attacks and panic disorder can be treated by specialists. This is why, if you think you fit the above description you should visit a doctor as soon as possible.