What Causes Panic Attacks?
A racing heart, shortness of breath and the fear of “what if it happens again”: the symptoms of panic attacks, the beliefs underneath them and how they are worked on in therapy.
Did you know that many people who come to therapy experience a racing heart, shortness of breath and a feeling of tightness or being overwhelmed? These are some of the main symptoms the body shows when it experiences anxiety.
Can a Racing Heart Have a Psychological Cause?
When people experience these complaints, the first thing they do is go to a doctor to find out whether they are having a heart attack. A panic attack can be described as a sudden, unexpected racing heart, tightness in the chest and a sense of fear and panic, as if something terrible is about to happen. It can last anywhere from a few minutes to 30 minutes.
Because the person doesn't know what to do in the face of this sudden, unexpected attack, a state of worry usually begins about having another one: “What if it happens again?” It usually takes time for people to accept that this experience is linked to psychological mechanisms. The symptoms are so intense that they think “there must be something physically wrong”.
Many Causes Can Lie Beneath Panic Attacks
Many factors play a part in panic attacks, such as genetic predisposition, learning processes, trauma, family dynamics and personality traits.
A panic attack is an experience in which psychological mechanisms lay the groundwork and act as the trigger, physical symptoms are at the forefront, and those physical symptoms can at times be a trigger too.
Panic attacks are usually treated with a combination of several approaches. These may include therapy, medication and lifestyle changes. The treatment process is usually shaped by the severity and frequency of the person's symptoms and their personal preferences.
The Chain of Emotion, Thought, Body and Behaviour
In a panic attack, the person's chains of emotion, thought, bodily sensation and behaviour have become linked to one another.
- “I'm helpless”
- “My hands are tied”
- “I can't cope”
- “I can't get through this”
- “I can't bear it”
- “I can't do it”
Negative beliefs like these, together with anxiety, make the person feel helpless in the moment and lead them to react with panic. Their heart starts racing, their chest tightens, and they may feel as if they are sweating or choking.
Although the life events a person experiences may be very different from one another, the place their mind touches is always the same: “I can't cope”, “I can't bear it”, “I'm helpless”. So every moment these schema beliefs are triggered is followed by a panic attack.
The negative beliefs mentioned above are over-generalised statements that point straight to the worst-case scenario. They express catastrophe through rigid judgement, and so they are far from reality.
What Does Therapy Focus On?
In many approaches, such as EMDR, schema therapy and cognitive behavioural therapy, the most fundamental thing worked on is the negative beliefs in the person's mind. Whether through reprocessing memories, through mode dialogues and shifts, or through cognitive restructuring and facing fears, the point ultimately reached is that the client frees themselves from the label “I'm helpless”.
Wishing you a life in which we are not prisoners of our labels, but embrace our freedom…
