What Exactly Is Happening to My Body during a Panic Attack

Panic attacks are very dolorous, but they are not dangerous. They are produced by a firing of your body’ s “ fight or flight” response system, also known as the sympathetic nervous system. This response is supposed to happen when you are confronted by a lion or a bear. In truth, if you were confronted by a lion or a bear, you wouldn’ t even civility you were having a panic attack, owing to you’ d be more concerned about escaping. But because your body is firing off this response when there is not a lion or a bear around, your mind jumps to the false conclusion that you must be dying or going mad. ( Most people don’ t know about panic attacks, so it makes sense that they would initially make this mistake ).

Despite the intense discomfort, panic attacks are in truth not harmful. In fact, during a panic attack you are at your peak ability to fight or run away. When you think about it, all of the panic attack symptoms make sense in this meaning. Your heart beats fast so you can pump more blood to your muscles and brain. You start breathing fast to you can get more oxygen to your muscles and brain. Your muscles tense up in preparation for you to use them. You start toasty to refrigerated down your body. Your pupils develop to get in more light, which can be perceived as spots in your vision. In addition, all of your non - essential organ systems power down so you can heart on running or fighting. In particular, your gastrointestinal system ( throat, stomach, and innards ) powers down – which can lead to nausea, a choking sensation / lump in the throat ( also known as globus ), abdominal pains, constipation, and / or diarrhea. For a unprejudiced numeral of patients, these gastrointestinal symptoms, which are just side effects of powering down, are altogether the main symptoms they experience during a panic attack.

All of this stuff is meant to get you ready to fight or run away. But if you don’ t fight or run away, you will get even more symptoms which are still not harmful, but can be even more thorny. For part, if you don’ t use up your increased muscle tension, your body will start to shake. In addition, if you hyperventilate ( breathe fast ) for too long, without using up the innumerable oxygen, you will get rid of so much equivalent dioxide that you will get tingling / numbness in the fingertips, a feel of dizziness or lightheadedness, and the palpation of depersonalization ( spot your body feels like it’ s not your own ) or derealization ( latitude the world seems like it’ s not real ). The hyperventilation is oftentimes unnoticeable while you’ re protective because it can be completely subtle and takes a few minutes to build up. Of note, there is insignificancy considerably dangerous about this hyperventilation or these symptoms. In fact, oyster hunters hyperventilate on purpose before they go underwater, as once they get the tingling / lightheaded symptoms, they can generally sway their breath for 2 - 5 minutes.

Oddly enough, when you measure the vital signs of a person who is truly having a panic attack, their heart ratio and blood pressure do not change very much, despite the intense feelings. For citation, their heart rate on average repeatedly just rises by 5 beats per minute, and their blood pressure often just rises 5 millimeters of mercury on average for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. These are all relatively mild changes. So, your body is getting ready to fight or run away, and it feels like it’ s fully active, but it’ s absolutely not even partly as active as if you fought or ran away for real.