What is a Panic Attack (Anxiety Attack)?

Source: Paul Douglass MIAH Acc. D.Hyp. Adv. - Anxiety therapist specialising in Pure Hypnoanalysis in London, England

A panic attack, or an anxiety attack, is an extreme feeling of fear, anxiety and/or emotion which has little or no obvious cause.

It can be described as having genuine feelings of fear and distress which are disproportionate to the actual threat to the person in the given situation.

A panic attack (anxiety attack) can be extremely distressing for the sufferer, and can also be quite frustrating when the person knows that there is no obvious reason for the panic attack to be happening.

The effects of the panic attack can vary from person to person, but the symptoms are often very similar to those that the person would feel in a truly threatening situation.

The common symptoms of a panic attack (or anxiety attack) can include shaking, sweating, dizzyness and heart palpitations.

For a more complete list of symptoms of a panic attack, see Symptoms of a Panic Attack.

A panic attack (or anxiety attack) can start extremely quickly, with the whole panic / anxiety state being brought about by a seemingly everyday occurance or event.

For example, a panic attack sufferer might be out shopping in a supermarket, only to find that they have a panic attack (anxiety attack) when they are in the queue for the checkout.

A panic attack (anxiety attack) can be terrifying.  If you’ve never had a panic attack (anxiety attack), think of what it would be like if you opened your front door only to find a lion standing there looking at you.

In that situation, the body goes into its natural ‘fight, flight or freeze’ defense mechanism.
When presented with a real, physical danger, the ‘fight, flight or freeze’ defense mechanism is designed to protect the person from that danger.

As the name suggests, ‘fight’ means gearing the body up in order to fight the danger.  So the body will (amongst other things) release adrenalin, the muscles with get ready to fight, the digestive system will slow down, and the body will mobilize its stored energy reserves.
The ‘flight’ defense mechanism again gears the body up for action.  This time the person will physically become ready to run.

The ‘freeze’ response is another response to a real physical danger.  This time, the person will become (sometimes literally) rigid with fear.

Think back to the effects on the body of that lion looking at you… imagine if it were real…  you would experience high levels of adrenalin, muscle activity (shaking and trembling), poor digestion, very loose bowels or bladder(!), feeling the need to escape, fear, muscle rigidity, and more.

It would be perfectly understandable to feel all of those things.  The reaction would be proportionate to the level of danger.

But those are just the sorts of feelings that someone having a panic attack (or anxiety attack) will experience, except this time, there isn’t any tangible reason for those feelings panic or anxiety to be there.

The level of fear, panic, anxiety, and the reaction to that fear, is disproportionate to the level of actual threat.

When someone has a panic attack (anxiety attack) for the first time, they can often mistakenly believe that they are going to die, the panic is so strong.

People having panic attacks, will often describe the experience as a fear that they are going to die, have a heart attack, faint, be sick, or ‘go mad’.

Panic attack (anxiety attack) sufferers often present themselves to hospital, in the belief that something is physically wrong.

A panic attack (anxiety attack) is different from other, prolonged forms of anxiety in that it often appears completely ‘out of the blue’, is very intense, and will have a finite length. 

For more information on the length of a typical panic attack, see How Long Does a Panic Attack Last?

Panic attacks (anxiety attacks) are quite common (see How Common Are Panic Attacks), and can be understood (see What Causes Panic Attacks) and treated (see Hypnoanalysis as a treatment for panic attacks).

Source: Paul Douglass MIAH Acc. D.Hyp. Adv. - Anxiety therapist specialising in Pure Hypnoanalysis in London, England

Date Added: 24th of July 2007

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