What causes an anxiety/panic attack to occur?
I can be sitting by myself without a care in the world, and then all of a sudden my heart will start racing and I will begin to feel uneasy like someone is watching me or like something bad will happen for no apparent reason, sometimes it will last for hours and progressively get worse until I begin to just have an overall feeling of horror and dread. What causes this?
What I mean is I’m not thinking about anything, but what I am involved in at the moment, like right now I am thinking about how to respond to your answer Dr. Bob, but other than that I have nothing on my mind that should create such a degree of distress. 
You Dr. Bob do not know what you are talking about, right now I am feeling irritated by your response, which is a normal reaction. I don’t create situations in my mind until I get myself worked into a frenzy if that is what you are implying, These attacks come on suddenly and have no apparent reasoning to them, but you are entitled to your opinion, just as I am mine.
Subconscious stress. I started to have these attacks soon after I found out about a slight heart attack. They happen at night and will bring out of a dead sleep. I tried a sleeping pill at night but it did work until they put me on 0.5 mg of Ativan and now I sleep through the night. I don’t know if it will work for you but you should talk to a doctor.
Comments
Comment from m_garnay
Time October 1, 2009 at 5:43 am
im 16 this month and ive had anxiety all my life and i find my axuety is most tiggered is when im not around someone i trust or am afraid of
References :
Comment from Fruitsickle
Time October 1, 2009 at 5:49 am
do u have a phobia towards anything? I am sure that if u have a phobia, then u will start to experience these types of problem
References :
Comment from Wildman
Time October 1, 2009 at 6:28 am
I had one of these events in my life. Only one but it was frightening and it happened because I could not change or control something very important to me in my life. And I just lost complete emotional control for a short period of time.
I simply could not stop crying. I was helpless. I hope this never happens to anyone else.
References :
Comment from bekahlee15
Time October 1, 2009 at 6:48 am
Hey! I’m soo sorry you are experiencing these. I know, they are REALLY scary. I have them as well..and I was diagnosed with panic disorder. They are actually triggered by thought. When you feel like you are getting nervous, try to change what you are doing. I know..it is really hard once things start to get bad, but try to think about things that are not stess full. For example, try to think of something constant..like a desert, or whatever. They can also be caused for medical reasons, like a chemical imbalance. But…I hope i helped =]. take care, and stess less.
Peace
References :
Comment from avon calling
Time October 1, 2009 at 7:03 am
I think it’s related back to stress. My mom was very sick and we didn’t know if she would make or not. During that time I started having panic attacks.I would get into the shower and just freeze. I couldn’t move. Iwent to the dr. and he told me what it was.Xanax is very good for that! Hope you get to feeling better soon!
References :
Comment from kanangisrinivas
Time October 1, 2009 at 7:52 am
It sounds like a learned habit and you should know how to relearn. You can do that with the help of a psychologist.You have to see your doctor as well for some anxiolytic medication on temporary basis.
References :
Comment from liebling
Time October 1, 2009 at 8:39 am
close your eyes and breathe in and out. Think of nothing for a while. always pray
References :
Comment from LHD
Time October 1, 2009 at 8:58 am
I used to have them very often. I seen a program on TV and they said it originates from fearful thoughts. Deep breathing exercises was shown to control or prevent that from happening. Inhale deep trough your nose and exhale trough your mouth each day for a few minutes and/or when you have the attack. It helped me.
Edit: If no thoughts trigger your heart beat faster- You may have experience Heart Palpitations. Search webmd.com for causes.
References :
Comment from Coop 366
Time October 1, 2009 at 9:23 am
Subconscious stress. I started to have these attacks soon after I found out about a slight heart attack. They happen at night and will bring out of a dead sleep. I tried a sleeping pill at night but it did work until they put me on 0.5 mg of Ativan and now I sleep through the night. I don’t know if it will work for you but you should talk to a doctor.
References :
Comment from Dr. Bob
Time October 1, 2009 at 9:38 am
You said "I can be sitting by myself without a care in the world, and then all of a sudden my heart will start racing."
I doubt it. Your mind is constantly operating to manage your life and solve your problems, so there’s no such thing as "sitting there without a care in the world."
Nor is there a "cause" (something in the past or something outside of you) for panic attacks. It is your choice to frighten yourself or make yourself incredibly nervous, edgy, and anxious.
Panic attacks are the result of cognitition, that is, your thinking processes. Your feelings (including such extreme ones) are the result of your thoughts.
Panic attacks are different from being truly afraid of a fearful circumstance. Instead, they are you scaring yourself to death (so to speak) by your thoughts…what you tell yourself, inside your head.
Why would you do such a thing? Only you can say, but one thing we know about thoughts is THEY ALL HAVE A PURPOSE. By thinking something, you are envisioning in your mind some pay-off, some result, the attaining of some future goal.
If you are really bothered by panaic attacks, you should see a cognitive therapist who can help you with this form of "automatic thinking" and who can help you find out the usefulness of such attacks…that is, what you hope to get out of having them. (Please don’t say you don’t have a reason for them. You do. It’s the nature of the mind and the human being. The point is not to deny them but to do what needs to be done to discover the your goal in giving yourself a panic attack.
You DO NOT have to live with this, so please, see someone. And best of luck in this. — Dr. Bob
References :
Comment from tigerbarb7
Time October 1, 2009 at 10:17 am
your brain might think of a past expirience subconciously
References :
Comment from Princesa Jasmine
Time October 1, 2009 at 5:06 am
I had the same thing. Go to your doctor for a diagnosis. Stress and or Depression are main causes of panic attacks. I am on anti depressants to help me and they really do work. Also in the time of the panic attack just BREATHE in and out deep. This will relax you
References :