What’s the Cause of a Panic Attack?

Cures for panic attacks are everywhere you look. You can’t turn on the television without seeing an advertisement for another anti-anxiety medication, and everyone is into stress reduction. What about the cause of a panic attack, though? What causes one, and does it affect the way it should be treated?

One cause of a panic attack, or at least a panic reaction, is danger. Panic is basically the body’s natural reaction to a threat or danger. When faced with a threat, the brain tells the body to produce adrenaline, which prepares the body to either fight the threat or run from it. This is where the term “fight or flight reaction” comes from. If some type of threat is the cause of your panic – and it need not be a vital threat, it could be as simple as walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood at night – go with it. It is a natural reaction and is probably to your benefit. For instance, it’s probably a good idea to walk fast and be alert and be prepared for a fight when going through a bad neighborhood at night.

Another cause of panic attacks is phobia. A phobia is a persistent, abnormal and irrational fear of a specific thing or situation that compels a person to avoid that situation despite awareness of the irrational behavior. Often confrontation with the object of the phobia can cause a panic attack in the phobic person because he or she perceives the object as a threat. When phobia is the cause of panic attacks, therapy often makes the phobia and the panic attacks go away.

Of course, generalized anxiety is a cause of panic attacks. Generalized anxiety or panic is thought to be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. A person with such a disorder has too much serotonin, norepinephrine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), all of which are neurotransmitters. Abnormally high levels of these neurotransmitters interfere with the way the brain receives and interprets external stimuli, causing generalized anxiety and anxiety attacks. If generalized anxiety is the cause of your panic attacks, both therapy and anti-anxiety medication will be a part of your treatment.

Stress is also a cause of panic attacks, but in a complex sort of way. Sudden, acute stress – like a car accident or a violent attack – might trigger a panic attack, but this is just the fight or flight response in action. Long-term, prolonged stress probably does not cause panic attacks, per se, but rather provides fertile ground for an underlying phobia or anxiety disorder to express itself via panic attacks. Long-term stress can cause depression, and depression and anxiety are highly correlated. If you are highly stressed and experience panic attacks, your doctor or therapist will probably prescribe a stress reduction regimen.

The causes of panic attacks are complex; they are the result of both internal biochemistry and external stimuli. The complexity of the causes of panic attacks causes the types of treatment to vary widely – ranging from simple lifestyle changes to medicine to therapy to some combination of the two. If you experience panic attacks, consult your doctor to help determine the cause and the cure.