Causes
of Panic Attacks
A
phobia or anxiety
disorder can bring on
panic attacks. It's a
fairly common
assumption that panic
attacks are rooted in
a person's
psychological
disposition. While
it's true that there
may be past events
that consciously or
sub-consciously
contribute to panic
attacks, most people
ignore the whole area
of physical problems.
For years,
decades...maybe
centuries, we thought
bipolar affective
disorder was a
behavioral issue
rooted in psychology.
But, unless we
compensate for a
brain chemical
imbalance, no amount
of therapy will solve
the problem. In many,
if not most cases,
panic attacks have a
physical trigger, and
the panic is merely a
symptom of a physical
illness or condition.
Here is a short list
of physical
conditions that can
cause or trigger
Panic attacks:
Diabetes,
hypoglycemia,
hypertension,
puberty, menopause,
pregnancy, lack of
aerobic exercise,
poor diet/nutritional
imbalances, too much
coffee, alcoholism
and drug addiction.
This is the first and
easiest place to
check for an
underlying
cause...just get a
complete
physical.
The
next step is to
analyze your Panic
events: What symptoms
are present first?
Are there certain
types of
circumstances present
most of the time you
have an attack? Like
briefing my
boss...getting ready
to visit in-laws,
eating a certain
food, going more than
3 or 4 hours without
food, the mailman is
coming? If so, your
panic may be
triggered by a phobia
or chronic anxiety.
Sometimes it helps to
get feedback from
family and friends as
to when you regularly
do this, because you
may be so overwhelmed
with the feeling you
can't easily analyze
anything.
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