Since the vast majority of the population never actually suffer a panic attack, or at least have never seen someone having one, the question of whether these attacks are actually real is often asked and it is a good question. Let's take a look at this issue in this article.
Real or Imaginary?
Since the physical symptoms of a panic attack can be: a) seen by onlookers, b) felt by the sufferer, and c) actually measured by medical equipment, there should be quite a simple answer to the original question; of course the attacks are real! What idiot could possibly think otherwise? But, as with most things in life, perhaps that answer is just a tad too simple.
In my article 'Panic Attacks Cure - What are panic attacks' we discussed that the physical symptoms associated with an attack are part of the body's natural survival process and as such, once the process has really started, one has difficulty stopping it until it has run it's course. In this scenario real physical symptoms exist and have a real affect on the person suffering the attack. In a similar way, anxiety attacks cause very real physical reactions in the body, although usually to a lesser extent.
So, we can establish that in terms of our own body's physiological mechanisms, a panic attack is very real indeed. But what causes this intense 'fight or flight' chain reaction in the first place?
The Psychological Side
Many medical practitioners and writers (I'm guilty of this myself, I should know better) refer to the 'illogical' or 'irrational' aspect of anxiety attacks. What is normally meant by this is that the reason why an attack starts doesn't actually have an obvious cause. An attack may appear 'out of the blue' and knock a person back so rapidly that there is no time to rationalise about the cause. The attack is there and it is not going away without a fight. To the casual observer then this will appear to be totally illogical and irrational; especially the behaviour of the sufferer during an attack.
Now this is where we come back to the original question - are these attacks real? If the cause of an attack can be so illusive, or even mysterious for many, is the attack itself real? Rather like a 'phantom pregnancy', which we all know isn't a real pregnancy but has very real physical symptoms for the person concerned, perhaps we should say that panic attacks are 'not real' for the same reasons.
Unfortunately, this would be far too simple and one thing panic and anxiety attacks are not and that is simple (and trust me I know from my own experience which you can read about on my website below). No, even though the immediate cause of an attack may seem irrational or illogical to the observer; the reality is that somewhere (and this is often buried deep in one's sub-conscious) there is usually a root cause for the attack.
This is where the psychological issues come to the surface. It is widely known that how we think, or more importantly how our sub-conscious thoughts are thinking, affects our physical body. There is mounting evidence that a lot of ailments, or the physical symptoms of an ailment (such as the symptoms of a panic attack), are caused by our thoughts and our thoughts alone. Nervous ticks are a case in point. These usually have no physical cause whatsoever but are caused by nervousness or severe stress; a psychological cause. Panic and severe anxiety attacks can often be traced to the same source; a psychological cause that needs to be addressed before a complete cure can be accomplished.
As real as real can be
The root cause of the psychological issues fuelling the attack cycle may be all too real: be it a single bad experience from childhood, a recent tragedy, or an ongoing issue that has built up over many years, and since the symptoms are real and the root cause is real; the whole nightmare experience is truly real! Are panic attacks real? In my experience they certainly are!
Real or Imaginary?
Since the physical symptoms of a panic attack can be: a) seen by onlookers, b) felt by the sufferer, and c) actually measured by medical equipment, there should be quite a simple answer to the original question; of course the attacks are real! What idiot could possibly think otherwise? But, as with most things in life, perhaps that answer is just a tad too simple.
In my article 'Panic Attacks Cure - What are panic attacks' we discussed that the physical symptoms associated with an attack are part of the body's natural survival process and as such, once the process has really started, one has difficulty stopping it until it has run it's course. In this scenario real physical symptoms exist and have a real affect on the person suffering the attack. In a similar way, anxiety attacks cause very real physical reactions in the body, although usually to a lesser extent.
So, we can establish that in terms of our own body's physiological mechanisms, a panic attack is very real indeed. But what causes this intense 'fight or flight' chain reaction in the first place?
The Psychological Side
Many medical practitioners and writers (I'm guilty of this myself, I should know better) refer to the 'illogical' or 'irrational' aspect of anxiety attacks. What is normally meant by this is that the reason why an attack starts doesn't actually have an obvious cause. An attack may appear 'out of the blue' and knock a person back so rapidly that there is no time to rationalise about the cause. The attack is there and it is not going away without a fight. To the casual observer then this will appear to be totally illogical and irrational; especially the behaviour of the sufferer during an attack.
Now this is where we come back to the original question - are these attacks real? If the cause of an attack can be so illusive, or even mysterious for many, is the attack itself real? Rather like a 'phantom pregnancy', which we all know isn't a real pregnancy but has very real physical symptoms for the person concerned, perhaps we should say that panic attacks are 'not real' for the same reasons.
Unfortunately, this would be far too simple and one thing panic and anxiety attacks are not and that is simple (and trust me I know from my own experience which you can read about on my website below). No, even though the immediate cause of an attack may seem irrational or illogical to the observer; the reality is that somewhere (and this is often buried deep in one's sub-conscious) there is usually a root cause for the attack.
This is where the psychological issues come to the surface. It is widely known that how we think, or more importantly how our sub-conscious thoughts are thinking, affects our physical body. There is mounting evidence that a lot of ailments, or the physical symptoms of an ailment (such as the symptoms of a panic attack), are caused by our thoughts and our thoughts alone. Nervous ticks are a case in point. These usually have no physical cause whatsoever but are caused by nervousness or severe stress; a psychological cause. Panic and severe anxiety attacks can often be traced to the same source; a psychological cause that needs to be addressed before a complete cure can be accomplished.
As real as real can be
The root cause of the psychological issues fuelling the attack cycle may be all too real: be it a single bad experience from childhood, a recent tragedy, or an ongoing issue that has built up over many years, and since the symptoms are real and the root cause is real; the whole nightmare experience is truly real! Are panic attacks real? In my experience they certainly are!
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