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Anatomy of a Panic Attack
by Stephen Price
People with agoraphobia
(or who experience panic attacks) usually have an oversensitivity to adrenaline,
meaning they are more likely than the average person to
experience an adrenaline rush. In the context of
agoraphobia, this adrenaline rush is often referred to as the "fight or
flight" response because it is the body's natural fear
response and contributed to self-preservation
in primitive times. As such, understanding the "fight or flight"
response is helpful in understanding agoraphobia and where panic attacks
come from.
Before we locked up the animals in zoos and started shopping
for our food at supermarkets, our prehistoric ancestors
lived a little closer to wild beasts and hunted for their
meat. When attacked by beasts they couldn’t easily kill, our
ancestors needed either extra strength to defend themselves
or extra energy for running to get away. That’s why humans
are wired with a “fight or flight” response that is
triggered when we are threatened. It was originally designed
to protect us.
When our “fight or flight” response is triggered by
something that threatens or scares us, adrenaline rushes
into the bloodstream to give us added strength to either
fight off the threat or run from it. In addition, the body
shuts down non-essential activity to conserve energy for the
matter at hand. In other words, our body has a rush of extra
energy because it is saving energy by not doing things it
doesn’t absolutely need to do to sustain life.
The adjustments your body makes during the “fight or flight”
response are:
-
Your
heart beats faster to pump more blood into your muscles
for extra strength while fighting.
-
Your
breathing gets faster and deeper to increase the supply
of oxygen.
-
Your
muscles get tight to prepare for action.
-
You
experience a cold sweat to prepare for the warmer sweat
that will come with activity.
-
Blood
vessels near the surface of the body constrict to reduce
blood loss if you are wounded.
-
You
shiver and your hairs stand up to conserve heat and to
keep the body from getting too cold when the peripheral
blood vessels constrict.
-
Your
pupils dilate so you can see the danger more clearly.
-
Your
digestive system shuts down and the extra blood goes to
the voluntary muscles.
-
Your
mouth gets dry because your saliva flow decreases when
the digestive system shuts down.
-
You
may feel the need to empty your bladder and bowels to be
freer for physical activity.
All of
these bodily changes helped our ancestors do things like
club a bear for food or run from a tiger to save their
life.
In today’s
society, most threats we face are psychological, not
physical. In the case of agoraphobia, our own thoughts
scare us. A psychological threat can trigger the same “fight
or flight” response that a physical threat does, but the
bodily changes aren’t needed in the case of a psychological
threat. They just make you uncomfortable and you feel
worse.
In modern times we have pretty much renamed the “fight or
flight” response. We call it a panic attack.
Since most of us who have agoraphobia
have developed an over-reactive “fight or flight” response,
we have lots of panic attacks. A panic attack is a lot less
exciting and a far less glorious picture than fighting or
fleeing from a wild animal.
This leftover mechanism of the nervous system, designed to
save our lives in cave-dwelling times is a nuisance to us in
the modern world. Unless you really need to run from a wild
animal or vicious attacker, the adrenaline can be
overwhelming and make you feel like your body is going to
jump out of control. The rapid breathing serves no purpose
if you are not running from anything and is just needless
“hyperventilating.”
Neither being overwhelmed by adrenaline nor hyperventilating
are good feelings, especially if you are trying to appear
calm and under control in an office or classroom.
Needless to say, the primitive "fight or flight" response
has all but outlived its purpose - and learning how to
control this response is important for recovering from
agoraphobia or any other anxiety disorder that features
frequent panic attacks.
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