I’m going to keep this post as simple as possible because as the title suggests the causes of panic attacks are not that hard or as complex as a lot may like it to be.
Panic Attacks ARE SYMPTOMS not CAUSES of a problem
Panic attacks are symptoms of an underlying emotional problem, what that problem is may be unique to any individual. Panic attacks are the last place your mind goes just before it goes haywire to try and pull you out of a situation it is triggered into thinking is a problem. A great many information sources (websites like: docstoc.com, and helpguide.org) say that it is the panic attack itself that should be treated. I don’t believe this is the case. If you tackle the symptoms of any problem you may not have those symptoms again but your problem still exists and will manifest itself in some other way. This is why smokers who quit smoking will often turn to binge eating because they only got rid of a symptom (smoking) and didn’t really tackle the underlying issue.
The Real Problem
The real problem was first created by a situation that had novelty and emotion attached to it. This could have been at any point in your life and was not necessarily just before your first panic attack.
You see when it comes to problems (among other things) the brain is like an over sensitive alarm system. Let’s say a burglar tries to force entry into a house with an alarm system akin to the brain. This house has 100 windows. It would take just one window to be smashed for the alarm to go off (this is where the problem is created). The next time all the burglar would have to do would be to walk past the house to trigger the alarm. The next time to be in the same city. And so on and so forth until what triggers the alarm doesn’t even need to necessarily be connected to the burglar in the first place. This is the same with limiting self beliefs in the brain…. For anyone out there who is scared of spiders, have you ever been frightened by the stalk and leaves of a tomato because they are very “spider like”?
How to Cure Panic Attacks
In terms of dealing with and curing panic attacks finding out where the problem began is not important in the slightest. The past is irrelevant.
Panic attacks are the symptom of an underlying bad self belief, this could be one of a myriad of different things, something like “I’m weak” or “I’m defenseless”. This belief is generated by emotions at a point where the brain has no connection to the creative adaptive layer so that you can think your way out of a problem.
During a panic attack the brain is so far past the point that it has any connection with the creative adaptive part of the brain, that there is no way that you can possibly think your way out of a situation and so you are thrown in any direction your primal brain gives you. This is not a good feeling!
The causes of panic attacks are not where you want to be looking to create change. You need to start well before the panic attack becomes a problem and work on the beliefs there.
My favourite technique for this is the 3D Mind. It allows you to work directly on the beliefs and creates actual change in the neural connections in the brain. It destroys the very foundations of self limiting beliefs.
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