Can Stress Trigger Panic Attacks?

Panic attack is manifested with the typical attack syndromes such as a faster heart rate as though you have come from a tiring run, unstoppable trembling, and difficulty in breathing. However, stress is one of the major causes of panic attacks. Sometimes major life changes can trigger panic attacks, such as changing jobs, getting married or having a baby. Stress from a job or a divorce can also cause the condition to flare up.

People who live stressful, high powered lives are more likely than others to suffer from panic attacks. As the stress in our lives becomes more intense the pressure increases. The pressure builds and builds until there is no where for it to go but course through your body. The more stress you place on your body and mind every day, the closer you are at all times to that boiling point.

Our brain is very clever. It is constantly checking and rechecking to make sure we have all the reactions and chemicals we need to live our lives. It is always ready to kick start our flight or fight response, ready to protect us against whatever s our enemy. It can't tell the difference between a real saber toothed tiger and a metaphorical one, but to all intents and purposes, the tiger is just as dangerous and we need protecting from it. Just because our brain thinks its life threatening doesn't mean that it is.

It just means our most primitive part of our body, the part that works completely on instinct rather than logic or reason has decided we need a bit of a kick start. This can be either because we're living on a constant rollercoaster of stress or because something in our environment has reminded us of something we associate with danger and the need for a flight or fight reaction. If you've ever brushed past a car alarm, barely touching it and it's gone off you'll know how easy it can be to set off something incredibly sensitive.

Sufferers of panic attacks should seek treatment immediately to free themselves from a lifetime of agony, living a restricted life that interfers with all of your relationships. Considering the ease and affordability of treatment there's no reason to put off gaining control of your life. The solution is simple. If we go back to our whistling kettle, the simplest way to stop it boiling, letting all that steam and noise go is to turn down the heat. Our panic attacks can be managed or prevented in the same way. All we need to do is turn down the heat. Even if the day to day stress remains, we can learn to manage it at a simmering boil, rather than at a fast and furious froth of bubbles and heat.