Most people who have panic attacks want very much to know "why" they have them, and frequently ask themselves that question, especially when they are having a panic attack.

While it's perfectly natural that you want to know "why", it's not a useful question to ask yourself while you are having an attack. It's helpful to notice the specific cues and triggers that invite an atack, but not to focus on the more general question of why you have attacks at all.

I tell my clients that the "Why?" question is not helpful during an attack for several reasons:

• when most people ask themselves this question, they usually do it in an angry way, and are really just getting mad at themselves rather than trying seriously to answer the question.
  
  
• it's unlikely that you will actually find an answer to this question.
  
  
• even if you did find an answer, that wouldn't stop your panic attacks; you would just be a more informed person who panics!

When you are actually having a panic attack, the "Why?" question is of no use. However, there are two questions that are very valuable during a panic attack, and these are the ones I urge you to use whenever you experience a panic attack:

1. "What's happening now?"
   
   
2. "How shall I respond to it?"

The questions of "What and How?", much more than "Why?", can help lead you to helpful, coping responses during an attack. And as you read the information at this site about coping techniques and progressive exposure, you will learn how you can make these questions work for you.

But, if you're like most people, you're still going to want to know "why?" So, to make it easier for you to switch over to the "What and How?" questions, I'm going to give you a general explanation of why people get panic attacks. Read this, think about it, and then resolve yourself to work with "What and How?" rather than "Why?" when you panic.

There are three reasons why people develop panic attacks.

1. The first is that there is almost certainly a genetic predisposition to panic attacks. Some people are born likely to develop panic attacks under the right circumstances, and some people couldn't have a panic attack if you paid them. There isn't anything unusual about this. I think we will eventually find out that most people have an inborn tendency to respond to stress and change in one particular way or another. If you have panic attacks, this is yours.
   
   
2. A second reason why people develop panic attacks is that as children, they may have grown up in an atmosphere which, for one reason or another, failed to teach them that the world was a safe place in which they could happily pursue their own enjoyment. This could have happened in a variety of ways. Maybe there was an early death in the family, severe illness, or some other serious problem like alcoholism. Maybe the parents were themselves anxious and over protective. Or perhaps the child learned to spend too much time and effort taking care of others, trying too hard to please others, and feeling responsible for the happiness of others.
   
   
3. The third reason why people develop panic attacks is that they often experienced a period of high stress and stressful changes in the year or so prior to the onset of the panic attacks. These might have been bad events, such as feeling trapped in a bad job or relationship, or experiencing the loss of family and/or friends.Or they may have had a lot of changes which weren't bad in themselves - finishing school, changing jobs, getting married, moving, buying/selling a home, having babies, etc. - but which had a cumulative stressful effect on the person to the point that he/she found it hard to cope with them all.

It's interesting to note that, for most people who develop panic attacks, it usually begins in their twenties or thirties - the years of establishing an independent life for yourselves when you are most likely to experience these kinds of changes.

Now I have a question for you. What do these three factors have in common?

Take a minute to review them ,and see what you come up with. When you're ready to see my answer, click the button.

Did you figure it out?

What they have in common is...none of them were under your own control. These are all developmental events in life which happen to people. They are not not something you can choose.

So what, you ask? What this reveals is that there is no reason to feel guilty or ashamed of having panic attacks. They are not the result of living badly; or of making bad choices; or of being "stupid", or cowardly.

So if you have panic disorder, that is your problem...to solve or leave unsolved...but do not be confused into thinking it is your fault.

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This page was last modified on 6-10-2004.