The Causes of Anxiety Attacks Can be Keys to the Cure

Anxiety attacks seem to be relatively new on the medical scene. People have probably been having them as long as there have been people, but they probably didn’t become identified or garner widespread recognition until the 1990s. Even though they haven’t been subject to medical scrutiny very long, doctors seem to know a lot about them. Though the exact mechanisms of anxiety attacks – their causes and cures – aren’t known, they are well enough understood that there is a vast panoply of anti-anxiety medication and other types of treatment available to sufferers. Which of these medications or treatments is right for you depends on the causes of your anxiety attacks. Read on to get a better understanding of the causes of anxiety attacks and thus a handle on how to treat them.

Some anxiety attacks are caused by phobias. For example, agoraphobia – the fear of public spaces and their attendant crowds – can manifest itself in the form of an anxiety attack when the agoraphobic is confronted with a situation requiring him to be in a public space. Going to the supermarket can trigger a panic attack. Social anxiety disorder can also trigger panic attacks. Sometimes the disorder is treated with medication, but it, like agoraphobia, is usually best treated through gradual exposure therapy. Such therapy helps the patient overcome the phobia, and once that’s conquered, the anxiety attacks usually disappear.

Some anxiety attacks are caused by, or at least linked to, depression. These types of anxiety attacks are more difficult to treat – sometimes requiring a combination of medicine and therapy – due to the difficulties of treating depression.

Acute stress can cause an anxiety attack. Acute stress is sudden and severe, like that caused by a car accident or a violent attack. The real culprit here is not stress, but rather the physiological response that it triggers – the “fight or flight response.” When a person is under this kind of stress, the body releases adrenaline and other hormones to facilitate physical activity such as running for your life or fighting back in defense. The effects of the adrenaline include increased blood flow, sweating, respiration, heart rate, and many other symptoms that mirror the symptoms of a panic attack. The presence of these symptoms can trigger an actual panic attack. This type of panic attack is the most difficult to treat – indeed it is probably untreatable in any feasible manner. Fortunately, an anxiety attack in response to acute stress is probably a rare occurrence rather than a enduring disorder.

Sometimes medication can trigger an anxiety attack. In this situation, the person is usually hypersensitive to bodily sensations and the altered physiological state caused by the medication brings on an attack. This is probably why some who use benzodiazepines (Valium, e.g.) to prevent anxiety attacks report that their medication actually worsens the condition. Usually this is remedied by switching to a medication with less of a psychotropic effect.

Causes of anxiety attacks aren’t perfectly understood, but they are well-enough understood that you can grasp them and become pro-active in controlling your attacks. Try to remember the situations that seem to bring about an anxiety attack for you, and communicate them to your doctor so she can assess the causes and prescribe the proper treatment. This will help you bring the anxiety attacks under control much more quickly and effectively.