Panic attacks can be very intense experiences and some people are afraid that they may die during them. This fear can further increase the anxiety experienced and worsen the panic attack. The fear of dying is a very common symptom of panic attacks, so to allay all concerns, the quick answer is no; you can not die of a panic attack.
Before getting into the matter, let’s clear up some myths. You can’t die from a panic attack, you can’t have a heart attack, you can’t drown. It is also very unlikely to faint, since blood pressure increases and fainting usually occurs due to pressure drops. In this article we are going to talk about what panic attacks are, what causes them and what we can do when we experience one, in addition to explaining in more detail why you cannot die from a panic attack. We hope it helps you understand anxiety and learn how to act in these intense cases.
A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear and anxiety, causing severe physical reactions. Many people only experience panic attacks once or twice in their entire lives, and the problem usually disappears after a stressful or anxiety-provoking situation is resolved. Panic attacks in themselves do not put your life at risk, but they can cause a lot of fear and, when prolonged over time, significantly affect your quality of life.
Panic attacks usually begin suddenly, without indicators or warnings of their presence. Furthermore, they can appear at any time; driving your car, at the movies, while you sleep or in a work meeting. Panic attacks have been classified as occasional or frequent.
Among the main symptoms are the feeling of imminent danger, the fear of losing control or death, the presence of tachycardia and palpitations, sweating, tremors, nausea, tightness in the throat, pain in the chest and head, dizziness… What is considered the worst aspect of panic attacks is the intense fear of their recurrence; This may cause you to start avoiding situations or places where you feel it could happen to you.
It is important to differentiate panic attacks from panic disorder. This is diagnosed when, after a panic attack, it is followed by persistent worry about suffering another attack or the development of behaviors that avoid the possibility of these attacks; both prolonged for more than a month.
Why do panic attacks occur?
Experts are unable to propose a specific cause for panic attacks. There are many factors to take into account whenever we talk about symptoms related to mental health. Genetics, high levels or episodes of stress, having a character that is more sensitive to stress or inclined to negative emotions, or even structural or physiological changes in brain functioning may play a role.
The body generates natural reactions and responses to stress or danger ; The heart speeds up, you breathe faster and you get a burst of energy. This is what is known as the fight or flight response, it prepares us to face or flee from danger. In panic attacks, this response occurs when there is no danger.
Among other causes, panic attacks can also appear due to heart or respiratory problems, depression or other mood disorders, alcohol or other substance abuse, or use of certain medications. The reasons that most often resonate with people who experience panic attacks are the presence of stress in different aspects of life and on a prolonged basis for a long time, or the fear of suffering another panic attack after experiencing it once.
What happens in our body during panic attacks?
To understand the symptoms of panic attacks described above and reaffirm that a panic attack cannot kill us, we will review the physiological and psychological reactions of our body when experiencing a panic attack.
As we have seen, panic attacks usually start suddenly. It can be starting to feel something unpleasant, such as an acceleration in your heart rate, followed by attempts to suppress it, either because you don’t like the feeling or because your fear that you are having the beginning of a panic attack has been activated.
These attempts to control unpleasant sensations, which usually occur unconsciously, fail. So, the more you try to reactivate this control, the more you lose it, which is why this feeling increases; for example, increased respiratory rate. This response is the first physiological reaction of the body in stress situations, unconsciously and without an organic need for it.
Increasing respiratory rate reduces carbon dioxide reserves, a compound that flows from the blood to the alveoli to be eliminated by the lungs. Basically, An acid-base imbalance is generated at the blood level and the body activates different mechanisms to protect itself and return to balance. These mechanisms include constriction of blood vessels and bronchospasm, an abnormal contraction of the muscle that lines the bronchi. This is what causes the classic symptoms of a panic attack: chest pain, difficulty breathing, feelings of fainting…
2. A vicious circle
If we were not aware of our body’s physiological reactions, panic attacks would not happen because the organisms would rebalance and we would not realize. Realizing this physiological reaction and suffering its effects is what makes us, again, try to block or control them without success.
Failure to block these very negative sensations produces even more agitation and, the more the fear is experienced, the more the body needs to restore its balance. This is what makes it a peak anxiety attack.
3. Activation of the parasympathetic system
All of these physiological reactions that we have discussed refer to the activation of the sympathetic system, a division of the Autonomous Nervous System that is involved in energy expenditure during stress or emergency situations, producing the previously mentioned fight or flight response. This activation also produces the secretion of hormones such as cortisol or adrenaline, which facilitate adaptation to the physiological response that our body experiences.
4. End of the panic attack
Typically, panic attacks last less than 30 minutes; Just as they have a beginning, they also have an end. Usually, The peak of anxiety that will be experienced in a panic attack occurs approximately 10 minutes after it begins. Another myth to debunk is that panic attacks can last for days; This is not true, but it is normal that during its prolongation there are feelings related to the fear that it will last forever, which feeds back all this physiological response and anxiety experienced.
Basically, this fight or flight response has a certain duration, and when the body achieves the physiological balance it was looking for, the panic attack also ends. It is normal that when it is over you will have feelings of tiredness, anxiety or fragility.
And the panic attack ends, but the fear or anxiety produced does not. This is when the fear of experiencing it again can occur, relating the possibility of suffering it with different stimuli, places or even people.
How are panic attacks treated?
The psychological treatment that is normally presented as the most effective in the case of panic attacks is framed within the cognitive-behavioral therapeutic stream. Through this therapy and following techniques such as exposure, people who suffer these attacks can learn to gradually expose themselves to these environments associated with the panic attack, in order to abandon avoidance strategies or behaviors and return to living a normal life and moving away. of the fear of suffering panic attacks.
You can’t die from a panic attack
In conclusion to the initial question: no, we cannot die from a panic attack. As we have seen, panic attacks are physiological reactions with a defined beginning and end and once they have started, it is difficult to avoid or control them without prior therapeutic background.
If you have previously had panic attacks and are developing a fear of experiencing them again or avoidance behaviors toward stimuli that you have related to them, the best recommendation we can make is to resort to psychological counseling. Through therapy and the techniques that you can put into practice, you will learn to expose yourself to these situations, to avoid fear and even relaxation techniques that can help you avoid the appearance of the panic attack reaction when you find yourself in situations that you feel that can activate it.
