What is a Panic Attack? And How I Got Cured Of It
A panic attack is when the body and nervous system had too much stress and it locks into Fight-or-Flight mode. In a way the body thinks it’s going to die or it’s in grave danger, and behaves accordingly, trying to save your life by preparing to fight or flee.
Fight-or-Flight mode kicks in in various typical forms: chest tightness, shallow breathing, tummy pain and needing to go to the toilet urgently, light headedness and feeling faint, painful knots in the stomach, inability to think clearly etc.
Wondering how is sudden diarrhea going to save your life? Well, your body is responding according to how it was designed thousands of years ago. If you clap your hands loudly while under a tree full of birds, it is likely that the birds are going to get into flight mode. That is, the birds will typically be pooping (on your head…) releasing weight in order to fly quickly away from a potential danger. Get the connection?
So each of these unpleasant symptoms that come with a panic attack are just the body’s way of preparing you for the worst, as in caveman days. Nowadays, people typically get panic attacks not when in real life danger, but as a result of accumulated stress in the body that has reached a tipping point, with or without a certain trigger. The body interprets that stress as a life threat, and that’s why panic attacks tend to feel to scary and are experienced as if there is a real danger, even in the absence of a threat to life.
In therapy we calm the nervous system in different ways, and learn to calm the body instead of believing it and panicking, thinking we’re in grave danger.
That alone can greatly help. But for a long term total cure something else also needs to be addressed:
Although most people don’t see the connection straight away, most often the underling cause for the accumulated stress and panic attacks is related to unaddressed issues of self-worth and issues with connection to loved ones and to family of origin.
Although most people don’t see the connection straight away, most often the underling cause for the accumulated stress and panic attacks is related to unaddressed issues of self-worth and issues with connection to loved ones and to family of origin.
Why is that? Well, trying to cut a complex answer short: we are a social animal and when we can’t feel connected in a deep and safe way to other humans, we feel very unsafe.
Imagine a caveman. Even a strong man could not survive the wilderness on his own. With our small teeth and nails, with our funny two legs, we are a weak animal and could not make it on our own in the wild. We needed others to survive. That has not changed. Evolution-wise we’re only a split-second away from when we were cavemen (just a bit less hairy, thank goodness…).
So it’s in our nature that we feel safest and calmest when we feel confident in our connections with other humans.
How to cure anxiety and panic attacks?
In short: Don’t panic from your body’s panic. Be kind to your nervous system: go for a walk, sleep, spend time with loved ones, and address your issue with them.
There is of course much more to it, and you are welcome to come to 1:1 sessions or to join a workshop to learn more and to heal from anxiety.
How I Got Cured Of It
(The above photo is from my backpacking in Mongolia in 2001. All the photos in my newsletters and website are taken by @ Yael Tsvieli Reiss)
How did I get cured of my panic attacks?
Well, years ago I had my first panic attack while driving on the freeway. After that, I suffered from panic attacks each time I drove on the freeway. I tried different methods to cure myself from panic attacks. I tried NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming), hypnotherapy and self hypnosis, Somatic Experiencing. All these were helpful, but only to a degree.
Unrelated to the panic, I dived into learning Systemic Family Constellations, and during the learning and training I addressed some family issues. Systemic Family Constellation has a perspective on family issues rarely found elsewhere. I was fascinated and pleasantly surprised by the insights and calmness I found during and following my process of addressing family issues with Systemic Family Constellations.
Then, one day, when I had to drive on the freeway, I noticed to my surprise that I felt great and did not have a panic attack on the drive. That continued and has continued since. That was years ago.
At some point the realisation hit me. Just as I was having my first panic attack while driving on the freeway, I was teary. I remembered what brought the tears – it was thinking about my dad becoming unwell, and my promise to myself when I was younger to be there for him as he gets old in case he needed me. But then I immigrated to Australia, following my husband. For years I was torn around this issue. My journey with Systemic Family Constellations helped me in addressing this, and my realisation was that this was what cured the panic attacks and fear of driving once and for all.