Panic Attack?

Usually panic attacks can be defined as being a discrete, sudden period of great fear, anxiety and feeling of discomfort. Many times it's being associated with several different cognitive and somatic symptoms. No obvious trigger is necessarily observed and we are dealing with a condition that usually shows an abrupt onset.

These attacks are considered to be a fight or flight that are flooding the body with several different hormones (mostly adrenalin) in order to aid the body when feeling a need to defend the body from harm.

In most cases the symptoms of panic attacks will last for around 10 minutes. This is not always the case though and we can also notice smaller panic attacks of up to 5 minutes and even severe panic attacks that can even last for up to many hours.

In different situations that saw the individual suffer a panic attack in the past, he/she can also experience anticipatory anxiety, which can also be felt in between attacks.

Different individuals will get different affecting levels from panic attacks. Those that already got through many in the past might also be able to eliminate the panic attack without even anyone noticing that it might have appeared.

Persons who are experiencing their first anxiety or panic attack will probably call for emergency services as they have no experience of previous attacks and they might think that they are suffering from heart attack or nervous breakdown.

What Causes Panic Attacks?

Panic attacks are caused by several different reasons and once we learn more about them we can tell whether panic attacks are mental illnesses.

We need to analyze the cause in order to understand the effect with any medical condition out there, including this one. First off we have long term, predisposing causes, mainly based on heredity.

Inheritance can play an important role when determining who might suffer from panic attacks in the future and some panic attacks do run in certain families. However, it must be realized that one can suffer from panic attacks even if there are no previous cases in your family before.

Panic attacks can also be caused by different biological causes. These include, among many others, inner ear disturbances, mitral valve prolapse, Vitamin B deficiency, Wilson's Syndrome, post traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, hypoglycemia and hyperthyroidism. Also, when a person is met with a phobic situation or a thing that can cause phobias it can cause a panic attack.

Some situations might also cause short term triggers for panic attacks. This includes personal loss, a significant life change, different stimulants like nicotine and caffeine, drugs like marijuana or psilocybin and so on.

Side effects of some drugs can also cause panic attacks. Ritalin is one example, but it's not certainly the only one. There are two possible outcomes in this situation.

We will either notice panic attacks appearing only when the patient gets the first medication or it might continue even after the individual will get used to the drug. In such a situation it is highly recommended that an alternative medication routine is researched as panic attacks caused by drugs are hard to live with. Most SSRIs will cause increased anxiety at the beginning of use.

People suffering from Hyperventilation Syndrome are also prone to develop panic attacks. Chest breathing is known to be a cause for over breathing as excess in exhalation of carbon dioxide when compared to the oxygen in your blood will cause this over breathing.

There are also cases when a person who suffered a panic attack in the past is more likely to get a new one when a certain situation that is similar to that which was seen at the first attack takes place.

This can mean that a person can get a cognitive or behavioral predisposition towards getting a panic attack in different situations. Pharmacological triggers can also have a direct impact.

There are several different stimulants, depressants, chemical substances that have the power of pharmacologically contributing to a list of possible triggers. The most usual examples are alcohol, amphetamine or caffeine but there are several others that also can be mentioned.

In this case, people that suffer from panic attacks might even develop a phobia for one drug or different chemicals.

Conclusion - Are Panic Attacks Mental Illnesses?

As we can see from the list of causes attached to panic attacks we can sum everything up with a simple and clear conclusion: Panic attack is NOT a mental illness.

However, we can say that there are similarities but the best we can do is to consider them coincidences and the medical condition at hand is simply a cognitive or somatic behavioral situation that has a damaging impact on the human body.

In order to treat it, some practices have been developed and a big step towards curing the individual stands in getting him to confront the external elements that are causing the anxiety attacks.

Treatment options will vary exactly based on the cause and the trigger, combined with an analysis to the gravity of the panic attack exhibited. In most cases treating the problem is quite easy but there is also the possibility that it might require months of treatment and strong medication in order to end up with completely removing the situation of suffering from a new panic attack.

Also, although panic attacks are not a mental illness, they can be cured in some circumstances with the help of mental processes based on the power of the human mind. Relaxation techniques for instance can have a huge success in dealing with patients suffering from the condition.