Panic attacks

    
     Knots in your stomach. Terror grip in your spine. A heart beating so loudly it could wake the spleeping neighbours. Raw panic response shocked you. What major betrayal from your body! All your anatomical elements were acting out some kind of extreme unwanted reaction.
     Your knees buckled. Your mouth turned to cotton. Your eyes sought to dim the whole picture and grant you something like fainting dead, falling, or beaming into outer space. This is not okay. Not okay at all. A place you’ve been, but don’t want to visit ever again. Panic attacks.
     Anxiety comes in many forms. Aside from momentary episodes, you can have generalized anxiety (which seems to be a catchall term for chronic anxiety), panic attacks with agoraphobia (which is a more intense and crippling experience, causing avoidance of everywhere but home), and panic attacks without agoraphobia.
     Anxiety causes three types of reactions: physiological (the physical sensations), cognitive (the ways people think about their situation), and behavioral (what people do about their situation).
     The most common physiological sensations of generalized anxiety are gastrointestinal upsets: butterflies in the stomach, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. To relieve these symptoms, you may take antacids or antidiarrheal medication, especially when you face an anxiety-provoking event. Many people with these reactions end up with ulcers. Other common complaints include frequent headaches and bruxism (the clenching or grinding of teeth).
     Cognitive reactions to stress—the way you think about anxiety—may make it worse. For instance, if someone is constantly worrying about getting sick to his stomach, he may actually help bring on the sickness. A person may also become very sensitive emotionally, feeling criticized, edgy, irritable, or jittery.
     A person's behavior also can contribute to panic attacks. Someone may avoid situations that will increase the symptoms. Another common reaction to panic is automatically to reach for medication without making an effort to talk yourself through the situation.
     Fear or panic are normal reactions to danger. They set off a chain of events in the body by activating the autonomic nervous system, which controls our breathing, digestion, and  temperature regulation. The autonomic nervous system is composed of two parts: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). The job of the SNS is to rev up a person, whereas the job of the PNS is to calm down that person afterward. The two parts balance out each other. When you're frightened, the SNS releases adrenaline with dramatic results. Your heart pumps harder to make your blood circulate more quickly through your body to where it's most needed. You're aware only of your pounding, racing heart, or the tingling sensations in your hands and feet. What happens is that blood is diverted from the hands and feet to the larger muscles.
     Your lungs get into the action, too. They work harder to draw in more air. You start to breathe harder and faster, and to sweat. The adrenaline causes you to focus more intently on the immediate danger. Your body is now totally aroused and ready to do uncontrollable things and reactions. A panic attack occurs when the body has these heightened responses and no danger is present. Your SNS is activated, but since there is no danger to contend with, the body can't get rid of the adrenaline. Eventually, the PNS kicks in and the symptoms diminish. In the meantime, you may be left wondering if you're about to die.