Causes of Panic Disorder Describes the causes of panic disorder, and the slow escalation from the initial panic situation, to continuing panic attacks, to subconscious panic attacks.

Causes of Panic Disorder

Articles : Causes of Panic Disorder



Causes of Panic Disorder Articles




Causes of Panic Disorder

The First Panic Situation

Panic sufferers are afraid of particular situations, and often, this fear has an understandable beginning. For example, a sufferer might be in an important meeting, and suddenly find that they have a genuinely full bladder. They excuse themselves to the bathroom, making a scene in the process. Other sufferers report having been struck with vomiting or diarrhea on a long bus ride. To their mortification, they had to ask the driver to stop at a toilet, and had the whole bus wait for them. Further sufferers report that they first fainted in hot sunlight, and had to be removed from a school assembly.

The point is that often, in the first instance, the sufferer had a reason to feel the way that they did. Possibly, they really had drunk a little too much water, were travelsick, had mild food poisoning or had taken too much sun. Often, too, the original situation was at least a little embarrassing.

Continuing Panic Attacks

All of us are involved in such situations occasionally. A panic disorder sufferer, however, begins to fear that they will embarrass themselves in the same way again. For example, a man in a meeting might think to himself, “What if I need the bathroom that badly again?”. His anxiety levels rise, and he cannot get the thought out of his head. He begins to panic, as he feels that he will embarrass himself terribly by having to leave yet again. Of course, one symptom of panic is a perceived need to empty the bladder. This particular sufferer then feels that his fears were justified, as he dashes off to the bathroom.

In another example, a child in a school assembly may worry that she will faint again, causing a scene. As she worries more and more, she begins to panic. As a symptom of panic is a feeling of faintness, she genuinely begins to feel faint again. Thus, she will come to the conclusion that her fears were justified, as she turns white and looks for a place to sit down.

Both people from the examples will now feel increasingly anxious about the situation that ‘caused’ their panic. The man may try to avoid going to meetings, and his superiors will demand an explanation. The child might well end up being disciplined by teachers who believe her to be faking faintness for attention. Naturally, this sort of treatment can only increase the anxiety the sufferer feels.

Panic Attacks Begin Subconsciously

It is important to understand that a sufferer does not consciously ‘decide’ to have a panic attack. The anxiety about looking foolish happens on a low level in the mind. The thought that leads to a panic attack may be very brief. Many recovered sufferers report that they only became aware of these panic-initiating thoughts when they began therapy. Once sufferers are aware that their panic is internally generated, they are often able to catch the anxious thoughts before full-blown panic occurs.

Why Are Sufferers So Panic-Prone?

Unfortunately, we still do not know what makes sufferers susceptible to panic. Panic disorder does run in families, so genetic inheritance cannot be ruled out. However, there is no evidence for a ‘panic disorder gene’. Possibly, since any young mammal will replicate behavior seen in a parent, many children learn to be anxious and bored from their mother or father. However, even this may be in doubt, because panic attacks are based on non-specific fears, which children seem less likely to learn.