Anne Spencer - I Get Panic Attacks. Now What?

W hen you are anxious, your body and mind are primed for danger. When the danger is over, your body returns to normal. However, if you are chronically anxious, you feel that the danger is never over. You remain on guard. Your sympathetic nervous system is activated most of the time, and that takes a toll on your body.

In general, anxious people have a lot of physical complaints. There are two main reasons for this. First, anxious people are tense, and muscle tension can lead to injury and chronic pain. Second, anxious people have weakened immune systems because of the ongoing physical stress of heightened alertness. Weakened immune systems make people more likely to get sick. They catch colds more easily because their bodies are less able to fight off infections.

There are many symptoms of anxiety, including those that are physical and psychological. More obvious, however, are symptoms such as a look of worry and nervousness.

Muscle tension leads to chronic pain. Tense people, especially those who hold in their anger, often complain that their shoulders ache. Many complain of lower-back problems that ultimately make back injuries more likely.

Anxious people feel aches and pains all over their bodies because it hurts to be so rigid all the time. In addition, most are not even aware that they are rigid, which makes it hard to correct the problem.

Ulcers are often a result of chronic anxiety. When youre anxious, your stomach secretes more acid, and the acid can eat a hole in your stomach wall.

Irritable bowel syndrome is another disorder that anxiety worsens. Instead of the stomach, the colon is affected. People with irritable bowel syndrome suffer from alternating bouts of diarrhea and constipation. The syndrome can progress to ulcerative colitis if an ulcerated area starts to grow in the colon wall.

Bruxism develops when people grind or clench their teeth. This may happen when people are angry or afraid, especially if they are holding in these feelings. Grinding puts pounds of pressure on the teeth enamel and on the bone surrounding the teeth. It doesnt take long for the constant wear and tear to crack a tooth, chip off enamel, or cause the bone to break down.

Anxious people see doctors frequently. They catch more viruses, are injury-prone, and have frequent headaches and stomach trouble. Anxious people are not all hypochondriacspeople who make up their illnesses. Most of the time, these people really are sick, and usually their anxiety has contributed to their illnesses.

I wrote this book because Ilike forty million Americans according to the National Institutes of Health in 2010suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, and Ive learned to manage them. You can, too. Some of you may be very shy teenagers who panic when youre around a lot of people. Believe it or not, thats a very common social phobia that most adolescents outgrow.

T here are several generally accepted biological causes of anxiety that result in panic attacks. The first is that people feel anxious because they have an insufficient amount of the neurotransmitter gamma aminobutyric acid, or GABA. GABA is associated with calming the brain. It actually works by inhibiting neurons that would ordinarily set off the alarm, so that high levels (or at least sufficient levels) of GABA help keep a person calm. Anxiety can also result from artificially stimulating the body. Drugs such as caffeine, nicotine, amphetamines, and cocaine all provoke an anxiety reaction.

One of my clients came in complaining of severe anxiety and frequent panic attacks. Dorothy worked as a data entry operator. As I probed into what kinds of stress she might be encountering at work, I learned that she was actually bored with her job. In fact, she was so bored that she had to drink ten cups of coffee a day just to keep awake. Ten cups of coffee? The woman was consuming enormous amounts of caffeine! Once she decreased her coffee consumption to one cup a day, she no longer experienced anxiety.

Certain medical conditions can cause symptoms of anxiety and panic as well. In fact, more than fifty physical conditions cause anxiety. If a doctor is not careful to treat the primary medical condition, he or she may not be able to cure the anxiety. Endocrine disorders, such as diabetes and hypoglycemia, cause many of the same symptoms as those of panic attacks. Hyperthyroidism or inner ear disturbances may cause anxiety symptoms to develop as well.

GABA receptors are the receptors that transmit gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA). It is believed that people with anxiety have an insufficient amount of this neurotransmitter.

A relatively harmless heart condition called mitral valve prolapse can be another trigger. In some peoples hearts, the mitral valve does not fully close after blood has passed from one chamber into another. This leads to a small backflow of blood, which is essentially harmless but can cause some uncomfortable sensations. A person with mitral valve prolapse may feel his or her heart beat an extra beat or pound a little harder than usual. This usually goes away with no harm done. However, people may interpret these erratic heartbeats as the beginning of a panic attack or heart attack. If they react with alarm, their anxiety level increases and they may indeed suffer a panic attack (although they will not suffer a heart attack).

People often suffer from panic attacks after major heart surgery. They confuse the pounding heart or occasional irregular beat with a pending heart attack. Fearful of dying, they react with anxiety and set a panic attack in motion.

Other medical conditions are not causes of anxiety but become larger problems because of anxiety. People sometimes say that asthma attacks can be brought on by anxiety. Actually, thats only partially correctsomeone cant bring on an asthma attack if he or she doesnt have the condition in the first place. But anxiety can aggravate symptoms in someone who is already asthmatic.

Tourettes syndrome is another condition worsened by anxiety. Tourettes is a neurological condition that resembles obsessive-compulsive disorder in that its sufferers feel compelled to do certain things to relieve their anxiety. Unfortunately, what they often feel compelled to do is curse and yell inappropriate words in public. People afflicted with Tourettes feel immeasurable pressure to do these unpleasant things. If they refrain, they only feel more anxious. The anxiety, then, is both a byproduct of the condition and a contributor to it.