Is This A Heart Attack or A Panic attack? What's Happening To Me?
Have you ever felt like a wave of fear is coming over
you and you’re just sitting there waiting for it to be over? You want to run,
scream and simply vanish from the face of the earth. Your heart starts to beat
fast, your lungs feels like they aren’t big enough to receive air, you sweat,
your muscles tighten and you get loaded with overwhelming thoughts. After going
through these horrible signs, you start to question: “am I dying?” “Is my heart
failing?” Oftentimes, you can also refer to these symptoms as a panic
attack.
Why do I feel like I'm dying?
It can feel as a contradiction when I tell you that it
might be a possible panic attack: “But I am not experiencing any anxiety at
this moment? Maybe what I am experiencing is actually life threatening?”. A panic attack can show up at any given time
unannounced, even if you’re not experiencing any anxiety at the moment. Anxiety
can store inside the body, waiting to come out. Compare it to a beast waiting
to be released outside of its cage. This beast can also be called as the
“fight-flight-freeze-response”. A subtle trigger might show up which makes your
brain think that you are in danger and in turn releases adrenaline throughout
the whole body. The previous mentioned symptoms evolve, although you can still
have other symptoms. This experience is for each person different. Essentially,
the brain is tricking the body that there’s a big danger while nothing is going
on. As humans, we can react in 3 different ways to danger: we either fight
back, run away or freeze in place, not knowing what to do. Sometimes, you can
also have a combination. For me personally, when I get triggered, I know I have
a combination of a freeze and fight response. This loop doesn’t always lead to
a full-blown panic attack, but it can still interfere with daily life and
manifest in other ways. Many describe a panic attack as the worst experience of
their lives.
Don’t get me
wrong, there’s a reason why your body is programmed to make this response
happen. It can protect you from serious dangers. Also, not everyone might
experience frequent panic attacks, but most people do experience it once in
their life when a stressful event happened like the death of a loved one,
fighting in a war, a tiring job,…However, there are a number of reasons why it
acts up the way it does and how you can deal with it.
What can be the possible causes?
1. Childhood trauma & developing survival mode
If you experienced any childhood trauma, you might be
living on survival mode. Instead of living your life, taking on new
opportunities and growing as a person in general, you fear growth and isolate
yourself from social events. This generates to the following examples: You might feel too stuck to move (freeze),
get defensive when receiving negative feedback (fight) or run away when you
have a tiny argument with your partner about who will do the dishes tonight
(flight). The cause for this behavior can lie in the fact that your brain keeps
reenacting those moments when you had to save yourself from abuse as a child.
For instance, you ask your parents as a 10 year old if you can just play games
for 1 hour longer on the computer. Your mother responds with: “Yes of course,
do what you want” and your father says: “No, it’s bedtime for you!” Because of their disagreement, they get into
a huge argument and you want it unfold to know the answer. Eventually, your
mother blames you for her thoughts about divorcing your father by saying:
“Because of your silly questions, I’m going to move out and divorce your
father”. You get shamed for no reason at all. It wasn’t your fault. You feel
like you destroyed the whole family and they will pull through with the divorce.
Also, you never get that steady, balanced, structured answer that you needed as
a child. In turn, you build your fences high and protect yourself from opening
up in the future. You live in constant fear of ever asking a person again a
normal question, and build this survival mode subconsciously to protect
yourself from feeling this hurt again in life. This example is a demonstration
and is one of many examples of childhood abuse.
2. Stressful & traumatic events
Other events or big changes in life such as the loss of
a loved one, a serious illness, having your first baby, getting a divorce,
having a burnout from overworking,… can also cause one or more panic attacks. However,
there is a difference between experiencing only one attack in life or several,
frequent ones. If you fall into the second category, you might have a Panic
attack disorder. A panic attack disorder is characterized by persistent
attacks of overwhelming fear, feeling out of control, noticing physical
symptoms and avoiding places where you had panic attacks before. Some develop a
panic attack disorder from the trauma they experienced in life.
3. Genetic factors
Other events or big changes in life such as the loss of a loved one, a serious illness, having your first baby, getting a divorce, having a burnout from overworking,… can also cause one or more panic attacks. However, there is a difference between experiencing only one attack in life or several, frequent ones. If you fall into the second category, you might have a Panic attack disorder. A panic attack disorder is characterized by persistent attacks of overwhelming fear, feeling out of control, noticing physical symptoms and avoiding places where you had panic attacks before. Some develop a panic attack disorder from the trauma they experienced in life.
3. Genetic factors
Mechanisms going on in your brain and body, inherited
from your family (genetic factors) can also play a role in recurrent panic
attacks. The way your hormones, brain chemicals and other bodily factors work
together can be a possible cause. It can be recurrent in your family. The temperament
(your behavior and the way you react to feelings) you have can be more sensitive to stress or prone to negative
emotions than others. You can also be dealing with sensitivity or fear to have
fear. Let me give you an example: during the experience of having shortness of
breath, you think you are having a heart attack which gives you an additional
panic attack on top of your panic attack. This can be an ongoing circle. I am
no expert, so if you would like to dive deep into these subjects, I suggest to
do more research on it.
How can I deal with a panic attack?
- Breathing is important
It supports our vital organs and reduces stress. Try to draw your attention to your breath. Is it going on a fast rate? If yes, luckily there is a technique available called the “4-7-8 breathing”. In 4-7-8 breathing, you breathe in 4 seconds, hold it for 7 seconds and release it slowly during 8 seconds. Try to do this on repeat.
- Find a plastic or cardboard bag near you and breathe in it
This action has a calming effect. It restores and helps to balance the level of oxygen in your body that is otherwise lost in the panic attack.
- Say comforting words to yourself
This can be words such as “I know this is not a heart attack, I have experienced this before, it will be over soon” or “I am going to allow my body to act out the suppressed feelings and I will not react to it.”
- Find someone who can support you during the attack
Someone who you trust, feel comfortable and can be vulnerable with. This can be a parent, a friend, a colleague, a teacher,.. If you find that no one is nearby, call someone you know and trust until you can regain control of the situation.
- Don’t think you will fix the problem by staying home to avoid future panic attacks.
This applies mostly to those experiencing agoraphobia or fear of being outside or in public places. By staying home and isolating yourself for long periods of time, your body and mind get into a relaxed, comfortable state. Once you go outside, the step might be too huge and you might experience a panic attack, which leads you to avoid places.
- If you still think after all this that your sensations are real and a real possible medical emergency is happening, it is best to make an appointment with a doctor who can assure you and give you clarity on what’s happening inside of yourself. It can be equally important to get treatment for panic attacks with a licensed therapist or psychologist as soon as possible to help stop them from getting worse or becoming more frequent.
- Stick with your treatment plan to help prevent relapses or worsening of panic attack symptoms.
- Get regular physical activity, which may play a role
in protecting against anxiety.
Remember, you are not alone in this.