What Can a Panic Attack do to You?

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WHAT CAN A PANIC ATTACK DO TO YOU?

If you're going to overcome panic attacks, you first need to know what you're up against. In this article, I discuss the common fears people have about panic, and clarify what can, and what can't, happen as a result of a panic attack. I offer this information knowing that, if you have panic attacks and phobias, it can be very hard to believe what appears below. Even when you do, these explanations by themselves won't stop your panic attacks from recurring. If it was that simple, we wouldn't need this site!

I suggest you read through this material and keep an open mind. Don't struggle with it. If you find it hard to believe, explore the rest of the site and make a bookmark to remind yourself to look at it again in the near future. You can also consult some of the sources listed in our Resource Directory for additional viewpoints.

Let's consider the typical fears of a person having a panic attack.

FEAR OF DYING
You think you are dying of a heart attack, or perhaps from lack of air. Neither one happens. The chest pain you experience during a panic attack is pain in the muscles of the chest, which are extremely tight and tense. The sensation of not getting enough air is due to the shallow breathing, but it leaves ample air to live on, and even to talk. Both of these are uncomfortable, but not dangerous.

FEAR OF GOING CRAZY
Many people think if they get afraid or anxious enough that they will "go crazy". But they won't. Veterans of hundreds of attacks can tell you, they believed it each time and it never happened. If you have an anxiety disorder, you will experience episodes of anxiety until you've found a solution. But you won't "get promoted" to schizophrenia!

FEAR OF FAINTING
This is a very common fear among people suffering from panic attacks. Do you know what causes a person to faint?

Think about this for a moment - don't just rush ahead - and when you're ready to see the answer, click the button.

Fainting is actually a valuable self protective response, caused by a sudden, significant drop in blood pressure. When blood pressure drops this way, there is a chance the brain won't get enough blood, because it's at the highest point of the body. That's no good - your brain needs a steady supply of the oxygen the blood carries. So when your body can't get enough blood to your brain because of low blood pressure, it protects you by bringing your brain down to the blood. In other words, the purpose of a faint is to ensure a blood supply to the brain by bringing your head down to the ground, so your heart doesn't have to overcome gravity.

If we had our brains in our feet, there wouldn't be any such thing as fainting, but stubbing your toe would be a real problem.

But here's the key point: What do you think is happening to your blood pressure during a panic attack?

That's right, it's going up. Probably not a lot, but it's doing the opposite of what you need to faint. In order to faint during a panic attack, you would need to have some other physical circumstance or condition which lowers your blood pressure to such a degree that it overcomes the increase. And, if you have such a condition, you would already know about it by the time you are an adult.

So it's extremely difficult to faint during a panic attack. Then why is the fear of fainting so common? Because people usually feel symptoms of dizziness and lightheadedness during a panic attack. This is the result of shallow, labored breathing, and has nothing to do with fainting. It's very uncomfortable, but it's not dangerous.

This sensation doesn't lead to fainting, but people get fooled into believing it will. To counter this, you need to learn how to do diaphragmatic breathing, which can quickly enable you to feel calmer and more clear.

PUBLIC HUMILIATION
I've never known this to happen either. While people feel like they're out of control, they're generally still walking in an ordinary way toward the exit of the supermarket, or the theatre, or wherever they are. In fact, it's usually very hard to tell when a person is having a panic attack. If they don't tell you, you probably won't notice. This has often happened in some of the groups I run - a member will have a panic attack during a meeting, and we don't find out until they tell us.

This often causes conflict in the family, when loved ones say things like "You look okay to me", but this is why these fears of public displays typically don't come to pass. People often feel embarrassed, and may feel sure that others are laughing at them, or thinking that they're weird, but the fear that you will look, and act, so bizzarely as to be driven out of society and left to live with wolves doesn't happen either.

So, what does happen as a result of a panic attack?

You get scared, real scared.

And if you don't get some good information about panic disorder shortly after the first attack, you're likely to start developing ongoing fears of having more attacks, and to develop phobias.

That's the real danger with panic disorder. It can lead you to become so avoidant and phobic that you give up many ordinary and enjoyable parts of life.

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This page was last modified on 11-6-2008.