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Many times panic attacks are categoriazed as mental illness. To understand this and see whether it's true or not, we need to analyze what panic attack really is. In addition to that we also need to study what lays behind such statements and also see how it affects one's body. Panic Attack - What Is It? A panic attack is defined as being a discrete, sudden period of intense fear, discomfort and anxiety. It is usually associated with a variety of different cognitive and somatic symptoms. We are dealing with a condition that usually shows an abrupt onset and in most cases no obvious trigger can be observed. Panic attacks are considered to be a fight or flight that appears due to a context, thus flooding the body with different hormones (usually adrenalin) in order to aid it in a sensed need to defend from harm. Ordinarily panic attacks last about 10 minutes. There are of course variations to this, from as small as 5 minutes to severe anxiety attacks that can last several hours. In different situations, person suffering from panic attacks, he or she can also feel anticipatory anxiety between panic attacks. There are different affecting levels from panic attacks for different individuals. Sometimes, when a person has had many attacks in the past, might be able to eliminate the panic attack without anyone even noticing it has happened. Having said that, persons who are experiencing their first panic attack usually call for emergency services as they have no previous experience and they might be thinking that they are experiencing a nervous breakdown or even a heart attack. 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. First we need to analyze the reason in order to understand the effect with other medical condition out there, including this one. First there are long term, predisposing causes, mainly based on heredity. There are some panic disorders that might run in families and inheritance genes can play an important role when determining who might suffer from panic attacks in the future. Of course one must understand that a person can suffer from panic attacks even if you did not have any previous cases in your family. 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. There are also some situations that can cause short term triggers for panic attacks. These can be things like personal loss, a significant life change, several stimulants like nicotine and caffeine, drugs like psilocybin or marijuana etc. 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. Those who are 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. Also, persons who suffered a panic attack in the past will be 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 basically means that individuals can get a cognitive or behavioral predisposition towards getting a panic attack in different situations. Pharmacological triggers can also have a direct impact. One can mention several different stimulants, depressants, chemical substances that have the power of pharmacologically contributing to a list of possible triggers. The most commin 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. So, Are Panic Attacks Mental Illnesses? As everybody can see from the list of causes attached to panic attacks we can sum everything up with a simple: No, panic attack is not a mental illness. On the other hand, we could 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 huge step towards curing the patient stands in getting him to confront the external elements that are causing the anxiety episodes. 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 aid of mental processes based on the power of the human mind. Relaxation techniques for instance have had a huge success in dealing with patients suffering from the condition.
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Is Panic Attack a Mental Illness? More info at How To Solve Panic Attacks
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