What Causes Panic Attacks? If You Have Ever Had One, You Definitely Want to Know

“What causes panic attacks?” is something that anyone who has ever suffered from one would like the answer to. Panic attacks are a result of anxiety which is the most basic of emotions. Although anxiety and the accompanying attacks are not pleasant, they aren’t harmful. Many believe they are though and also believe that they can threaten your life. Nothing is further from the truth so when answering the question “what causes panic attacks?” these myths need to be addressed.

In order to learn about panic attacks, the first thing you need to do is determine what anxiety is. The reason for this is that anxiety is the main causes of panic attacks. Anxiety is nothing more than fear or apprehension which is the result of a threat, event or situation. This fear or apprehension does not have to be real either. It can be imagined. This emotion is very common. The problem occurs when those who have never experienced one cannot understand how terrifying a panic attack is. They don’t realize that your vision may be blurry and you feel like you cannot breathe. These are just a few of the symptoms and yours may be worse. You feel like you are losing control and this is very scary.

When you are learning about the causes of panic attacks, most likely you will hear about the term ‘fight or flight response”. Again this is something that happens to humans as it is built into our nature. Humans have been experiencing this response for years. Our ancestors used it on a daily basis to determine if they need to attack or run and this is still built into humans. This is good as today’s world is very hectic and we all need to know how to respond to a threat that can occur at any time. This is just part of the causes of panic attacks.

Heredity also plays an important role in causing panic attacks. It has been shown that, when twins are studied, 57% of identical twins share these attacks while 43% of fraternal twins do. Significant life changes may bring these attacks on along with the stress that accompanies them. The same is true of a sudden change in environment or a traumatic event. Now that you know what causes panic attacks, you can do something about them.

Click here to learn the best way to stop panic attacks & general anxiety