Do People With Panic Attacks Have Something Physically Wrong?

[Xavier]

Do you think they do or is it just the way they think and their mental state which causes them?
If they're not caused by some physical abnormality like a faulty amygdala, I wonder how they're not much more common.
Theres people who live extremely stressful lives with stressful jobs and stessful relationships who don't get the panic attcks but how come the stress doesn't cause panic attacks in all the other people.

[olderfella]

I wouldnt think they have anything physically wrong with them however i would believe they could have hormonal inbalances and just not as mentaly strong as others. We are all individuals with strengths and weaknesses that are unique to ourselves as individuals some of you could be great at football others great at chess its our individual strengths and weaknesses that make us the person that we are

[European]

A lot of research has gone into this subject over the years, but there is nothing to suggest that anxiety and depressive disorders are being caused by a chemical imbalance within the brain. I repeat: No credible evidence whatsoever!

The theory has been peddled predominantly by the marketing departments of the pharmaceutical industry in order to sell their latest products, and it is probably not surprising that these companies have muddied the waters considerably as regards so called "independent research" that led to the chemical imbalance theory, as there is a lot of money to be made on the back of this theory.

On the other hand it is people suffering anxiety, depression and other mood disorders, who are often buying into the chemical imbalance myth far too easily - after all, it is comparatively easy to just pop a pill and expect to be cured, as this only requires a minimum effort.
Unfortunately, as each and everyone on this website can probably confirm, there are no quick fixes, no easy cures, and it takes a little bit more input in order to work oneself through one's disorder and manage to find ways to overcome it.

Research these days indicates that, unless one suffers from *sever* depression, medication doesn't work beyond a placebo effect. And the one treatment that has been standing out consistently, not least in view of its high success rate, has been Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.

I find it deplorable that the whole chemical imbalance theory is peddled, and peddled again, by people who are suffering from a mood disorder. There is so much ignorance and misinformation, making the suffering only worse via confusion and myths.
I can't help noticing the irony in this, as everybody I know who advocates medication as a solution has been suffering on and off, sometimes for decades, with their medication.
If medication was really a long term solution, how come it only makes a difference on the surface? After all, I've yet to meet a single person who really has had a chemical imbalance of the brain, and has been cured on the basis of pills alone....

[Anxious_gal]

could be a genetic defect, like they just found a gene that causes OCD in mice.

[Xavier]

Neither of my parents have ever had any mental illness but my grandmother has suffered badly with depression and panic attacks throughout her life, so I guess it could be genetic and missed a generation.

How common exactly is panic attacks does anyone know?

[JaneC]

I don't know what goes on in my brain but I will say that I quite categorically believe that anti-depressants do something to my brain or body that enables me to function as a person in a way I could not otherwise do and am just as sceptical about the new hype placebo theory as some people are about meds.

Neither do I understand why one or two people on here have been making much of the fact lately that ADs are not a "cure". Who said they were? They are a treatment. Like you take insulin as a treatment when you are diabetic or thyroxine as a treatment for underactive thyroid. Neither will cure you; they just replace something the body should be doing for itself but for some reason isn't. Why can't it be the same with ADs?

Blood beginning to boil

[European]

I think it is very dangerous to spread the belief that mood disorders are caused endogenously or genetically. Moreover, there is no hard evidence for this whatsoever (and trust me, I've looked!).

I think pinning the root causes of whatever mood disorder one is suffering from on some external factors is basically nothing more than avoidance behaviour. It means not taking responsibility, because, after all, whatever is wrong is caused externally and by factors out of one's control.
This might be convenient short term, but in the long run this attitude has the flip-side of rendering people entirely powerless and helpless. In short, it's not doing anybody any favours whatsoever.

"Like you take insulin as a treatment when you are diabetic or thyroxine as a treatment for underactive thyroid. Neither will cure you; they just replace something the body should be doing for itself but for some reason isn't. Why can't it be the same with ADs?"

Because Anxiety Disorder is overwhelmingly not caused by endogenous factors, but on the basis of negative and self-defeating belief systems and attitudes. In other words, it's not our genes and brain chemistry that is causing our suffering, but we are often our own worst enemies in the negative way we treat ourselves and the negative way we deal with our lives. And there are a lot of things we can pro-actively do about this, which will help us to come to some kind of acceptance, but also help and empower us to deal with the disorder and own our lives again, as opposed to merely making ourselves dependent on pills in the long run.

Think about it this way: If Anxiety Disorder was really caused by endogenous or genetic factors, how would you explain the success of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, for example?
How come that CBT is by far the most successful method of treating AD, and, as the latest research suggests, considerably more successful than medication?

I'm 99.9% anxiety free these days thanks to CBT - and yet, my brain is still the same. If there had been something wrong with it in the first place, I don't think I would have got where I'm now without medical intervention. In the same way that you couldn't treat diabetes or thyroid problems with psychotherapy, as neither of them would respond to it on the basis of them being caused by physical factors.

Be that as it may, I think the crux of the matter is to take responsibility for oneself, as opposed to being excused by external factors and expect others or other outside factors to make a difference or offer a solution or permanent cure. In my experience, help is not likely to come from outside, but it is ultimately much more empowering to face up to the problem and start to help oneself. And CBT has a lot of assistance to offer in this respect.

[caz1625]

I understand that CBT worked for you but it doesn't work for everyone.

I have suffered with panic attacks for 25years and have tried every treatment out there. And CBT didn't work for me..........and it wasn't that I didn't want it to work I worked desperately hard with my therapist. Infact it was actually my therapist that advised me to go the the docs and ask for bloods to be done as he felt there was an underlying problem that was triggering the attacks.

After bloods being taken at different times throughout the month it was found that I suffer from a hormone imbalance. By keeping a diary and having bloods done at bad times it showed that that was what was triggering my panic attacks.

You are lucky that you are 99.9% anxiety free but not everyone is as lucky as you.
There is nobody has tried harder than I have to beat this illness and I take full responsibility for myself.

Just because I suffer from panic attacks doesn't mean I don't have a good life. I have a lovely family and 2 beautiful boys who I have brought up to turn into lovely adults.
My life would be a lot better without panic attacks but this is the hand I have been dealt and I get on with life and live it to the best of my ability.

Carol

[JAYQ]

I understand that CBT worked for you but it doesn't work for everyone.

I have suffered with panic attacks for 25years and have tried every treatment out there. And CBT didn't work for me..........and it wasn't that I didn't want it to work I worked desperately hard with my therapist. Infact it was actually my therapist that advised me to go the the docs and ask for bloods to be done as he felt there was an underlying problem that was triggering the attacks.

After bloods being taken at different times throughout the month it was found that I suffer from a hormone imbalance. By keeping a diary and having bloods done at bad times it showed that that was what was triggering my panic attacks.

You are lucky that you are 99.9% anxiety free but not everyone is as lucky as you.
There is nobody has tried harder than I have to beat this illness and I take full responsibility for myself.

Just because I suffer from panic attacks doesn't mean I don't have a good life. I have a lovely family and 2 beautiful boys who I have brought up to turn into lovely adults.
My life would be a lot better without panic attacks but this is the hand I have been dealt and I get on with life and live it to the best of my ability.

Carol

So nothing can be done for the hormone imbalance? What did the docs say to do? If treated are u better?

[European]

After bloods being taken at different times throughout the month it was found that I suffer from a hormone imbalance.

I have to admit this sounds somewhat unspecific, but I accept it of course when you say you are one of the few people - like those with thyroid problems - whose condition is actually triggered off by an endogenous cause.

I don't see, however, why this should make you all dismissive of CBT. It hasn't worked for you based on your diagnosis, granted, but that doesn't mean it will not work for the majority of others.

You are lucky that you are 99.9% anxiety free but not everyone is as lucky as you.

I've not been "lucky", but I've worked - and am still working! - bloody hard on it, believe you me!