The Physiology of Panic Attacks

The physiology of panic attacks hinges on "The Fight or Flight Response", which Wikipedia defines as follows:
"The fight or flight", also called the "fight-or-flight or freeze response," terror "fight or flight response", "hyper" arousal or "stress acute response, was first described by Walter Cannon in 1929. His theory states that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal for fight or flee. This response was later recognized as the first step in a general adaptation syndrome that it regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms. "

However, most panic attacks occur in situations where the patient is in no danger whatsoever, (a lot of people awake from their sleep and have a panic attack) So how is this "Fight and Flight Response "relevant? It is believed that respiratory abnormalities may play a central role in the pathophysiology of panic disorder.

Gorman et al in "Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1988; 45 (1) :31-39., Submitted 31 patients with a history of DSM-III or panic disorder with agoraphobia, panic attacks, with a control group, with a breakdown ambient air and 5% CO2 inhalation. The patients also underwent an infusion of sodium lactate. Among the patients with panic disorder:

• 58% panicked by sodium lactate

• 39% with 5% CO2 (panic with CO2 was associated with an exaggerated ventilatory response and increased plasma noradrenaline (norepinephrine) levels and diastolic blood pressure).

• 23% hyperventilation with ambient air

The results suggest that patients with panic disorder may have receptors hypersensitive CO2 that, when triggered, evoke a subjective panic associated with an exaggerated ventilatory response and, accordingly hypocapnic alkalosis. Laszlo A. et al found that patients with panic disorder were more sensitive to the anxiogenic effects of CO2 than the normal subjects, and CO2 is a more powerful stimulus to panic than hyperventilation. These findings challenge the validity of having one person in the middle of a panic attack breathing in a paper bag.

Despite the weight of evidence of organic etiology, many people suffering from panic attacks were found using a technique developed by Barry, a former patient of panic attacks. This is to cope with symptoms of panic attack, even welcoming panic attacks. The rationale here is that victims of panic attacks try to avoid situations that trigger attacks. such crowded places, or perhaps public transport, as these are situations where it is difficult to "escape". They are also places for maximum embarrassment in case a patient dies.

So, in dealing with symptoms of panic attack, the patient realizes term: --
* They are not going to die.
* They do not go crazy ...... 2 of the most common fears in such situations.