Panic attack

A panic attack is the single sudden occurrence of a physical and psychological alarm reaction ( fight or flight ) that usually lasts only a few minutes without an objective external cause. It is often not clear to those affected that their symptoms are an expression of a panic reaction. The associated physical reactions are often experienced as (life) threatening, which further increases fear and panic .

More rarely, panic attacks can extend over a long period of time (up to several hours) with weakened symptoms. Occasionally, only the psychological symptoms (thoughts of fear, derealization and depersonalization ) are in the foreground, while physical symptoms are hardly noticed. What both groups have in common is that the symptoms are often not recognized as the result of a panic.

Vicious panic attacks

Typical symptoms

• Shortness of breath, tightness in chest and throat
• Hyperventilation (tingling sensations in the face and hands, muscle cramps as a result)
• Racing heart
• Sweats
• Tremors, dizziness, nausea, vomiting
• Fearful thoughts ("This is a heart attack", "I'm about to die", "I'm going crazy")
• Feelings of depersonalization ("standing next to yourself", "no longer being myself")
• Feelings of derealization (the environment is perceived as strange, unreal)
• Fear of leaving your home or apartment because something could happen

Causes and Therapy

The panic attacks are often triggered - and sustained - by automated emotional and mental misinterpretations of physical perceptions, which is also described under the term panic vicious circle. Those affected often pay more attention to the symptoms and wait for them to reappear. Recurrent panic attacks can severely damage the life and be as panic disorder diagnosed.

Panic attacks often occur in connection with other mental disorders such as agoraphobia and other anxiety disorders , depressive disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder and can usually be treated well within the framework of psychotherapy . Benzodiazepines are used briefly in severe cases to treat acute panic attacks . However, since these are highly addictive, they are not suitable for long-term use. Even shy, healthy children and adolescents experience occasional panic attacks from puberty on, for example in exam situations .

Panic states can also occur as a symptom in the context of physical illnesses. For example in endocrinological diseases, in diseases of the central nervous system , thyroid , heart , adrenal glands and numerous tumor diseases such as B. the pheochromocytoma . What these diseases have in common is that they lead in various ways to changes in the activity of the sympathetic system and / or an altered release of adrenaline , noradrenaline and / or cortisol . The therapy of organically caused panic symptoms takes place medically by eliminating the disease causing them.

literature

• Jürgen Margraf : Panic: Anxiety attacks and their treatment. Springer Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-540-52211-9

Web links

Wiktionary: panic attack  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jürgen Margraf : Panik: Anxiety attacks and your treatment. Springer Verlag, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-540-52211-9
2. ↑ T. In-Albon, J. Margraf: Panik und Agoraphobie . In: Hans-Ulrich Wittchen, Jürgen Hoyer (Hrsg.): Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy . Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg 2011, ISBN 978-3-642-13017-5 , pp. 915-935 , doi : 10.1007 / 978-3-642-13018-2_41 .
3. ↑ Chris Hayward et al. a .: Pubertal Stage and Panic Attack History in Sixth- and Seventh-grade Girls. In: American Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 149, Issue 9, September 1992.
4. ↑ Jürgen Margraf, Silvia Schneider: Textbook of behavior therapy. Volume 1: Basics, diagnostics, procedures, framework conditions. 3. Edition. Springer Verlag, Heidelberg 2009. Chapter 26.3, p. 453.
5. ↑ Hans-Peter Volz, Siegfried Kasper: Psychiatry and Psychotherapy compact: The entire specialist knowledge. Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart 2008.
6. ↑ Final spurt clinic script 4: Internal and surgery: endocrine system, metabolism, kidneys, water, electrolytes. Georg Thieme Verlag, 2013.
7. ↑ Hans Reinecker: Textbook of clinical psychology and psychotherapy. Models of mental disorders. Hogrefe Verlag, 2003.
8. ↑ Hans-Peter Volz, Siegfried Kasper: Psychiatry and Psychotherapy compact. The entire specialist knowledge. Georg Thieme Verlag, 2008.

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !