My Theory on Panic Attacks

The human mind is powerful.

Our minds can think of things very-very deeply. For example, when you’re angry with someone, you will tend to think of all the previous mistakes that he/she has done in the past and not just the present.  Or when you’re upset due to a rejection you had, you will think of all the past rejections in your life. Of course, this will make you feel worst. So I want you to keep this in mind – our minds can think very deeply. I will explain more on this later.

And also, our minds can overestimate or exaggerate matters sometimes. A good example here would be about weight. You could think you’re too fat or skinny and you become very self-conscious about it. But if you ask for an honest opinion from others, they may say you’re not as fat or as skinny as you think. Let’s accept the fact that our minds tend to expect the worst most of the time.  Again, please keep this in mind again as I will explain more on this later.

 

There are 2 possible root causes of panic attacks:

  • Physical Illnesses
    Psychological-related problems

 

Physical Illnesses:

Here is a short list of physical illnesses that can cause panic attacks:

  • Hyperthyroidism
  • Hypoglycemia (Low sugar level in your blood)
  • Drug Use (like Marijuana) or Medication Withdrawal
  • Mitral Valve Prolapse (A heart problem that causes the heart to have irregular heartbeat rhythms and even heart failure)
  • .etc

 


Psychological-related Problems:

Here is a short list of psychological-related problems that can cause panic attacks:

  • Phobia
  • Stress (i.e. many new responsibilities, heavy job responsibilities, .etc)
  • Major Life Changes (i.e. loss of a love-one, moving to a new house, trying to adapt to a marriage life, .etc)

 

Physical illnesses affect your breathing patterns, heart rhythms and other normal functioning activities. By affecting any one of the activities, a side-effect will happen. For instance, if your breathing patterns are irregular it will affect your oxygen and carbon dioxide levels in your body. This will cause unwanted symptoms like light-headedness, dizziness, and such.

Hypoglycemia is a very good example of a physical illness that can cause panic attacks. When the blood’s sugar level falls too low, the body will produce lots of adrenaline to stabilize it. Although adrenaline helps to stabilize the sugar level in our blood, it also creates unwanted effects like palpitations, irregular breathing pattern, nervousness, and anxiety or panic attacks.
Go for a full health checkup to see if you have any physical illnesses. If you do, seek medical treatment.

 

For psychological-related problems, a phobia will no doubt trigger panic attacks. Interestingly, stress plays a big role too. The higher your stress level is, the more prone you are to anxiety or panic attacks. So learn to handle your stress and lookout for any psychological-related problems that are causing your panic attacks. Find it and eliminate it. A psychologist can help eliminate your psychological-related problems. Or you can do it yourself by learning Cognitive Behaviour Therapy or Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).

 

These 2 possible root causes of panic attacks are the reason why some people can experience a panic attack out of a blue or without a warning. The Mistaken Chain can also be the other cause of it.

Now here’s my theory: even if you remove the primary root cause of your panic attacks, there is now a secondary root cause of your panic attacks - a “trauma”.  It’s a creation from your primary root cause. If you’re always fearing and anticipating your next panic attack, it’s very likely you’re suffering the “trauma” effect and that means you now have the secondary root cause.

You fear when the next panic attack will be; you fear that you will experience a panic attack again; you avoid places and situations that you once experience panic attacks because you are afraid it will come again.

 

The secondary root cause of your panic attack is very crippling. Not only does it make you avoid places or situations that you think you might experience the panic attacks, you will have panic attacks in future very easily. And this, of course, will make you avoid even more places and situations. The cycle goes on and on till it affects your self-esteem and belief system, your life and you might develop Agoraphobia (fear of leaving the house).

 

But ironically, the secondary root cause of your panic attacks can be easily tackled and removed. Remember, the secondary root cause is just a trauma from the primary cause.  It’s just an illusion and irrelevant fear.

 

I will explain to you the solution and the cure to your panic attacks in the later.

Next Article: The Magnifying Effect