What Happens to Your Body During a Panic Attack

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It has long been believed that all mental disorders are biological ailments. This means that every mental disorder could have its roots in physical causes like infection, genetics, and pathology of the nerves or any dysfunctional biochemistry within the body. Therefore, experts agree that a situation like a panic attack would have biological roots.

However the issue is not without its fair share of debates. While one school of thought believes that panic attack is an entirely biological problem caused by chemical imbalances in the brain, the other group believes that panic attacks are caused by the environment in which the victim was raised and has nothing to do with chemical imbalances. Then there is a third group that believes that the causes of panic attacks lie somewhere in between these two factors.

Panic Attack as a Biological Problem

If you go by the large number of medications that are given to panic attack sufferers that change the brain’s chemistry, you are likely to believe that the attacks could be due to some kind of malfunctioning of the microscopic neurotransmitters causing an overload of information to hit the consciousness. This over stimulation of the brain stimulates the ‘alarm’ section of the brain and this can cause panic attacks.

Let us now think for a moment about the symptoms of a panic attack. They correspond to a large extent to the acute activation of the sympathetic branch of the autonomous nervous system, characteristic of the fight or flight reaction.

When faced with a perceived ‘threat’, this fight or flight response gets triggered and prepares the body for quick action. This is accompanied by the secretion of several hormones that increase the body’s energy availability and body temperature. These hormones also dilate the blood vessels of the heart, which consequently result in rapid heartbeats to supply more oxygen to the tissues.

Other symptoms that show up because of this hormonal interplay include:

• Sweating
• Decreased motility, tone of the stomach and intestine
• Breathlessness
• Dizziness
• Chest pain.

Simultaneously sweat glands are stimulated to prevent the body from over heating. Muscles get tensed up to prepare for flight but may cause trembling when requisite action is not taken.

This complex set of responses has evolved primarily for survival and protection of the body from perceived threats. Therefore, you could comfortably conclude that panic attacks are nothing but a kind of emergency response which takes place during a situation which may not be deemed appropriate by any standards.

It is also interesting to note that panic attacks rarely occur before puberty or after menopause. This means that for women, panic attacks could be linked to production of female reproductive hormones.

Various parts of the brain are involved during a panic attack. This includes the hypothalamus and pituitary gland which release several stress-related hormones during an attack. Other brain regions like pons, medulla oblongata, cerebellum and others are also included in terms of perception of sensory stimulus, fear-related reflex actions, etc.

Biological Changes during Panic Attack

In summary, during a panic attack, the body changes its priorities in terms of short and long term survival. Hormones like adrenaline get released, which in turn increases the blood pressure and breathing gets faster. Legs start to shake as they may be preparing the body to start running (flight) and the palms and feet get sweaty to help the hands get a better grip.  Blood is drained away from the stomach and digestive system to other major muscle groups as it is needed there more during an emergency. That is the reason why a panic attack often results in a stomach upset.

When you understand what is going on within your body during a panic attack, it can help you understand the functioning of the nervous system. And this understanding can help you cope with the condition in a more effective manner.

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