Anxiety Self HelpFind helpful information about anxiety.

The purpose of understanding what causes panic attacks is to stop having them. It’s not a casual question that people calmly look up on the internet. To experience a panic attack come over you “out of the blue” is a little like being caught in a violent storm. If you regularly listen to weather reports on the radio, then you are less likely to be drenched by an upcoming storm. In one sense it’s very simple. If you know the storm is coming you can do something different and be ready for it (be indoors, have the right gear, etc.). If you are clueless about the coming storm, then you will be caught off guard.

Not so the weatherman. He has honed his skills at seeing the data on the screen and interpreting what it means. If I were shown the same data, the same computer displays, I wouldn’t know what it means. This is not a problem, though, because I don’t need to develop these skills. There are other ways for me to know what all those numbers mean: I just check the news on the web or the morning newscast.

Forecasting the symptoms of anxiety attacks involves learning to interpret the thoughts and feelings displayed on the screen of your mind. Knowing that a storm is coming is important because it allow you to make different decisions. “Mayby we should post-pone our camping weekend.” Or, “I’ve decided to not do yard work tomorrow, because a storm is coming.” If you are a person that doesn’t listen to the weather reports you may consider learning a different way of making those same decisions by checking the news first. Having such awareness of your emotions might give you option, for example, of taking steps to talk through certain emotions you have been stuffing down before they percolate into a panic brew.

In my experience people suffering from panic attacks have a style of relating to their feelings. I have a hunch that you oscillate between fearing panic attacks too much (panic about panic), or ignoring your fears entirely. I also suspect that you have had some life experiences where you have had to be strong for a prolonged period of time. This may have even happened before you were old enough to have such challenges. To cope with it all you rightly learned how to ignore your own feelings of distress and concern. All your energies were devoted just to getting through whatever is next.

Coping with difficult things by stuffing one’s emotions can be a great strength in some extreme situations. Being lost in the wilderness or involves with a time-critical search and rescue operation are but a few of the many examples of crises that demand that we keep it together and disregard our feelings. However, it isn’t very helpful when one is trying to decipher for oneself what causes panic attacks.

What causes panic attacks? It’s having a outdated sensor for reading anxiety sensations and symptoms. It’s like your barometer for your own emotions has been spray-painted dark purple and you can’t read it. The key to preventing panic attacks is to upgrade your prediction equipment by acquiring more emotional intelligence.

You may also read the longer article what causes panic attacks.