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More and more people these days are suffering from panic attacks. A single attack will not do much damage in itself but it is very easy to fall into the trap of recurring attacks and this gives you a new condition called panic disorder. Let’s find out exactly what happens during an attack and how we can use this knowledge to prevent them happening again in future.

What Are The Symptoms Of A Panic Attack?

This is useful to know because some people experience great anxiety with some physical symptoms but it is not a panic attack.

In a panic attack there is a very rapid onset of physical symptoms and fear that builds very quickly and lasts for about 5 to 10 minutes.

Some of the symptoms described are an intense fear of dying, a feeling of helplessness, rapid heart beat, profuse sweating and chest pains.

What Happens During A Panic Attack?

So why does this happen? There is a key system in your body that almost takes over called the sympathetic nervous system (SNS).

All animals have evolved so that if they are in immediate danger from a threat like a predator, the SNS takes over and delivers a good dose of adrenalin plus increased heart rate and sweating to give you the best chance of survival. If you get even more scared then the SNS does its best to give you even more “tools” to escape with.

When someone has a panic attack they get a feeling of fear. The SNS responds. The problem is that people who get panic attacks mistake the symptoms as something much worse e.g. a heart attack. They get even more fear. The SNS responds even more. It’s a vicious circle and suddenly you reach peak fear and peak symptoms very quickly and you find it all hard to understand. This is a full panic attacks.

Some people get repeated panic attacks (panic disorder) because the fear of having another attack actually drives the attack in the first place. This is an even more vicious circle but it can be broken.

During An Attack

One way to cope during an attack is to use “coping statements” such as “this is natural and it will pass” or “I cannot come to any harm, this will not kill me”.

Try to disassociate yourself from the attack. Try to stop thinking about “what if” and focus on the now. It can help to detach yourself and try to visualise looking at yourself from the outside and overcoming the attack. This disassociation works because the emotional connotations are removed.

These simple techniques are just the tip of the iceberg and there are many other techniques that you can use, for example behavioural therapy. What even the doctors agree on is that drugs are not an answer and are largely ineffective. You are better off seeking therapy and using self-help books to overcome panic attacks and panic disorder.

What is hypochondria? Also known as hypochondriasis, this is when someone excessively worries about their health. I know this because I suffer from it myself, unfortunately.

What happens is that the person will notice what they believe to be a symptom and then exaggerate it out of all proportion, often only seeing the worst case scenario.

An Example

An example for me are moles on the body. We hear all the time about the need to be vigilant with any disease or cancer and the media actually do not help anyone as I will reveal to you shortly why.

So I might look at a mole and see something slightly irregular. Actually, there is no such thing as the “perfect mole”. My brain will rack about all the possible risk factors: did I get burnt when a child, do I get too much sun now?, how many moles do I have on my body, what skin type do I have etc.

Warped Logic

The brain of a hypochondriac works in a strange way. Prevalence of illness in anyone is due to many factors and doctors can assign a probability range. But hypochondriacs like myself will always see the worst case scenario and adopt the most conservative stance.

Another problem that I sometimes have is that I wonder if seeing a symptom and then deciding not to pursue it because I think I am simply exaggerating, is the wrong course of action. Maybe I am not exaggerating? This can cause a “tug of war” in the mind!

Does Vigilance Save Lives?

The reason that the media make this problem worse is that with many illnesses, there is little proof that vigilance saves any lives. In fact, doctors are finding that people who are not vigilant probably have the same survival rate as those who are. This is because it is only normal for someone to notice something that is not right and then follow up with their doctor and there is therefore perhaps no need to educate widely. Obviously, there are some exceptions where educational health awareness campaigns have saved lives but this cannot be said across the board for all diseases.

Treatment Options For Hypochondria

What about treatment options? Is there anything out there that is helpful? Speaking from a personal point of view, I tried cognitive behavioural therapy but it did not work because I disagreed with everything that the therapist said. Antidepressants may help.