Anxiety Self HelpFind helpful information about anxiety.

Your heart is jumping in your chest, you feel nauseous and dizzy. You gasp for air, but you never seem to be able to get enough. You are panicking, you know it, and you are sick of it. What is causing you to have these panic attacks? Usually there’s a particular trigger that sets off a panic attack, and it’s important to get to the bottom of it.

Why do certain smells or tastes sometimes cause a panic attack? Think of a person with a peanut allergy. Peanuts usually are harmless to the body, and normal people’s immune systems do not react. However, the allergic individual’s immune system is hypersensitive, and reacts as if peanuts were deadly poison. Similarly, the panic attack sufferer may have inherited a very sensitive nervous system that overreacts to harmless stimuli.

The research on panic attacks is ongoing. Although scientists still have many questions, they have found some answers. Currently, scientists believe that panic attacks occur because of a misplaced adrenaline rush. The adrenaline rush likely helped our ancestors, who lived among lions and leopards. It also helps us today, when we are fleeing a house fire, or running away from robbers. However, for some people, the adrenaline rush happens out of nowhere. No danger, no threats, yet your body floods itself with adrenaline anyway. That’s a panic attack.

A person’s genetic data greatly influences who they are. If your parents or grandparents were prone to panic attacks, they may have passed their characteristic onto you. Through no fault of your own, you may have been born with a genetic predisposition for panic attacks. Certain genes are dormant, only becoming active when met with a specific environmental trigger.

If you have no genetic predisposition, the blame could lie on your environment. Given the “right” circumstances, a healthy person could respond with a panic attack. Perhaps he is going through a hard time in his life. Just like a shout can cause an avalanche, a single event can trigger the release of built-up stress, leading to a panic attack. Let’s say your trigger is the texture of linen. You are travelling, and you spend the night at a motel. You slip into bed, under the linen sheets. For some strange reason, you begin to sweat. The anxiety builds up, until you are having a full-fledged panic attack.

Ideally, you want to avoid your triggers. If you are not exposed to your triggers, you won’t have panic attacks. Little changes to your lifestyle can go a long way to protect your sanity. However, some triggers are unavoidable. For example, it is difficult to avoid the smell of cigarettes, as you cannot control whether a passerby smokes or not. Thus, some patients try to accustom themselves to the trigger, by repeated exposing themselves to the unpleasant stimulus.

Before confronting your triggers, you should discuss this with your psychiatrist or doctor. He or she may have some pointers regarding this exercise, such as how long you should be in contact with the trigger, or what techniques you can use to fight your fear. Evidently, if you have a heart condition, this may not be a good exercise for you.

You don’t have to go on suffering with panic attacks. They can be effectively treated through a combination of panic attack drugs and cognitive therapy. Click here to learn more about panic attack medication and other treatment alternatives to help you start living a normal life again.