The simplest way to understand a panic attack is to think of the manifestations as the
body’s over exaggerated response to stress and anxiety. When the body is under stress, it
normally secretes the hormone adrenaline, the so called fight or flight response hormone in our
system. This hormone prepares the body for fight or attacking the anxiety producing event head
on. On the other hand, it can also assist the body in making the opposite response, flight or
running away from the anxiety producing scenario.
Either way, this hormone is responsible for creating a series of body responses that
happens when we are faced with a fearful or anxiety producing event. Bodily responses to
anxiety include: an increase in heart beat, elevated blood pressure, increased rate of breathing,
sweating and others.
In a panic attack however, the body secretes more than the sufficient amount of
adrenaline. Hence, the symptoms of anxiety are more pronounced and peak at a much faster
rate than normal. The over secretion of the stress hormone is responsible for the uncomfortable
and sometimes dangerous manifestations of this illness.
Shortened Version: The symptoms of panic attack are a result of the body’s over secretion of
adrenaline, the same hormone responsible for the body’s stress and anxiety response.
Tags: panic attack symptom explanation, panic attack symptom explained