Why Do My Panic Attacks Come Out Of The Blue? (Podcast EP 294)
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- čas přidán 18. 06. 2024
- HELP! My panic attacks come totally out of the blue! I don't know how to handle that!
For an anxious person struggling with the process of anxiety disorder recovery, it can sometimes seem like panic attacks strike completely randomly and "out of the blue", where no clear source of anxiety can be identified as triggering the attack. This can be frustrating, especially if you've been working overtime to manage your anxiety and prevent panic from happening.
But there is no such thing as an "out of the blue" panic attack. In the context of disordered forms of anxiety, it is the resistance to panic and the urgent attempts to manage and prevent it that become the precipitating factors leading to future panic attacks. Trying hard to guarantee that you won't panic any more? Paradoxically, this is going to have the opposite effect, almost guaranteeing that you will likely experience more panic down the road.
When one is anxious about being anxious, or afraid of being afraid, the trigger for the most recent "out of the blue" panic attack can be found in all the panic attacks that came previously. The hidden trigger is in the checking, scanning, evaluating, and guarding against panic that allows a single sensation, thought, or feeling to trigger a rapid sequence of events that creates what appears to be a random, unexplainable instant panic attack.
It's actually good news that there are no true "random" panic attacks. We can use that information to make adjustments and change direction toward where we want be in recovery and in life.
For full show notes on this episode and other anxiety/recovery resources:
theanxioustruth.com/294
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This is 100% correct. There is always a trigger, whether you realize it or not.
And in our context usually the trigger is trying to not be triggered. I'm always careful to steer clear of the "find the hidden pain or feeling you can't seen to find" narrative because that can be counterproductive in this particular population.
@@TheAnxiousTruth love it! Thanks Drew!
Another very helpful episode. I feel the difference between people with panic disorder and those with recurring attacks have one letting the attack happen don't care attitude like you said and the second one is attributing the root cause. Panic disordered people like me keep trying to find the root cause in some internal medical issue and people with normal panic attacks attribute to external visible causes
Accurate! People that have panic attacks that do not try to figure them out and solve them and treat them like disasters do not develop the problems that people like us can develop. Great comment. Thank you.
Wow so true. I’m usually stressed because I’m super busy which makes sense to be stressed. Then the fixation becomes internal of there’s something wrong with me. This shift of back and forth is exhausting, I’ll get it and understand then fall back in.
I needed this too! Thanks!
Perfect episode, your timing is always great somehow, Drew 😅
Thank you. I try! ;-)
so glad you did a podcast w steve hayes,
Getting to talk to him was a pretty cool experience! :-)
I will say though that two times I had what felt like a panic attack out of the blue. It happened during a dental procedure. I'd never had any anxiety about dental work, just discomfort.
Got the shot, dentist started work, then . . . bam! Panic attack. I also ended up barfing a little. Blood pressure went down a bit, felt light headed.
Turns out . . . it's possible that the shot of lidocaine went straight into a vein, which makes sense as the panic attack came on soon after I received the injection in my gum.
Second time, shorter story. Pretty sensitive to caffeine in general, but was super tired before work. Chugged a full cup of Vietnamese coffee (very strong) since I was running late. About halfway through my commute I had to pull over. Felt like a panic attack. After about five minutes it was over.
So . . . there could sometimes be a non-anxiety related reason. Of course, for the majority of people it would be a cause they're not even consciously aware of.
Dead on accurate. Many many people experience panic attacks for lots of reasons including the two you pointed out here. Most of them do not fall into the trap of trying for months or years to "figure them out". That's the difference. Excellent comment. Thank you!
I wonder how this applies to the hormonal rollercoaster that is perimenopause. The trigger there obv is the hormonal changes but as someone with a preexisting anxiety disorder, and having experienced the out of the blue panic that (unconsciously) has a trigger, these are different.
offtopic...any chance on Anxiety and Panic thru out of history episode?, especially ancient...how people were dealing with it using people's wisdom, how effective were they?... who have it right, and who not.
I love this idea! I've been kicking that around as a book or long-form video project for a while. I would LOVE to do the research on that when I can find the time.
Curious if you have any episodes on medication for anxiety and if you would recommend, or if you think therapy is the best route to recovery
I will never provide medication advice or tell anyone that they should or should not take medication. That's simply not my place for quite a few reasons. In the end this is a personal choice and no matter which way someone goes with this, my job is to respect that choice and work with it as best I can within the confines of what social media can even accomplish. In the discussion about medication the most common concerns that you'll hear from people like me are well-informed consent (I HATE when people are told that medication can only be good and is never problematic) and the thing where if we medicate away the feelings and symptoms, we tend to lose the exposure targets that therapy is so helpful with. But again, there is no clear right or wrong there. I hope this helps. :-)
It is my full-time job 😢
😢 same here
That's a job that we have to work to resign from. Because we can. It's safe to quit your job as a full time anxiety and feelings monitor. xx