Understanding Panic Attacks: Part 1 - What Happens During A Panic Attack

I really like the concept you brought forward with regards to the physiological responses to panic attacks, I think this is something often overlooked. I also liked that concept of the cycle of panic. Panic attacks can often lead to other panic attacks and a developing nature of panic. It's really an area that's not well understood and/or appreciated by wider society. Thanks for clearing up some really interesting points!

Can you touch on the childhood dynamic of being raised in a cult or with a disordered parent, and the person is afraid to say "no."

Hey there is a good chance you will read this. Thank you. I take myself way to seriously. Love your videos.

Is it related to the startle response?

Thank you for this series!

Waiting impatiently for part 2, that will be very interesting topic!

Nice video

Next video sounds great

Very good description. I noticed to touched a little on agoraphobia. I hope you get a chance in the future to touch on other conditions that often times stem from panic attacks like depersonalization, derealization, schizophrenia, and D.I.D.

A great topic! Very insightful... Thank you, Dr. Abdul Saad.

Great vIdeo, thank you. Helps me to re-think the diagnosis I received some years ago, which was GAD, general anxiety disorder. I'm waiting to see a psychiatrist again soon. Medication and psychotherapy did help but I'm looking to improve my mental health. Understanding what is going on in my mind has always helped me. It can be difficult to talk to a doctor while I am having panic... I tend to get very confused. Have also seen this in other people.
Because of my basically very positive outlook on life, I have been struggling with the GAD diagnosis. As also Avoidance disorder was being mentioned at one of my visits to the ER, which felt a bit off to me, I'm now getting much clearer thanks to your explanations. I do get panic attacks before special events, e.g. a doctor's appointment etc. Sometimes one panic rolls into another. I think you mentioned this too.
There are a lot of things I am capable of doing that other people would be afraid of. But always after considering risks etc.
And I'm not worrying about everything, far from it! Maybe you could discuss GAD some time...?
Thanks again.

I had a panic attack at work once and my boss laughed at me, it happened years ago but I’ve been getting flashbacks. I’d appreciate a video series from you on how to deal with flashbacks.

This is such a good video on anxiety! I've been suffering from anxiety for 5 years now, wish I saw this years ago!! How you explained it was very clear , and it doesn't sound like the complicated mess I think it is in my head!! I kind of feel excited about life now! I'd lost all hope! I feel like I've cracked it! Thank you.. :)

I totally agree with the way you describe development and responses. I've been having them since childhood due to a continual fear inducing mother. When I got into relationships they'd be triggered. After 50 odd years of this, with deteriorating health and lifestyle, I was finally diagnosed in 2015 with a Pheochromocytoma, which is a dangerous, hormone secreting adrenal tumor. I think my bodys response over the years created this tumor. I had it removed via surgery, but after so many years my metabolic system has been damaged long term, it does not function correctly.
Thats my story of the extreme end of panic attacks ;)

My panic attacks came out of the blue and I attributed them to a temporary chemical imbalance.

Hello Dr Saad. I wanted to thank you for these straight forward, very clear videos. So refreshing! So know you are helping many. Wondered if a series on Empaths living with Borderline Personality Disordered folks might strike a note with any others out there. Love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Thank you!

your list of activities avoided by those who suffer panic attacks are exactly mine. i fear execercise, though i love it because how it makes me feel. i will avoid excessive due to not wanting to raise my anxious level too high. which will be caused by the elevated heart rate.i've gotten myself to be conformable to with stairs just by building confidence through a little of exercise.

Can poor quality sleep trigger them?
I have no emotional component when I get dizzy, near fainting and vomiting. So sick it lasts for days. Total bedridden. No fear.

Your understanding of the psycho spiritual aspect of these issues is just amazing. My anxiety was from anger and grief lodged in my body that desperately needed to move out... tapping on meridian points moves energy, shaking moves energy, breathing techniques move energy (4,7,8 breath, alternate nostril, breath of fire) and stretching moves energy (see restorative yoga). The universe is like water, it wants to flow.

I think we are edging that If panic isn’t cured; it can, by mixtures of amateur-ism become hypochondria. Stick with a good professional like this man not an amateur theorist.

I stopped working since this year of May. And other things as well. To avoid mean people.

Do you have any experience with EMDR and it helping panic attacks?

Your videos are incredibly helpful. Thank you for sharing this information.

I am presently going thro an anxiety state. I know what to expect..n I know how to deal with them...as years ago I had them really bad.
I know it is because my situations have been going on for years - even rho things are a lot better.
But..I understand that I have taken too much for too long.
Sooo...I shall be writing a poem about it, which always helps me and others. Give a sense of comradeship.😉😇😊😎😜

Brilliant video, and so understanding, thank you. I've been having panic attacks for nearly 39 years and your honesty on how they can show themselves is very refreshing. I get suddenly hit with sheer terror, shake violently, and my digestive tract empties out both ends (if that's a polite way to put it). I also get massive yawning fits. My attacks are brought on by thoughts, or by news reports (which I avoid as if my life depended on it). I have a blood disorder named Pyroluria which is partially to blame, but my childhood didn't helped either.

Your right in what you say about “triggers,” try a screaming Narcissist. Either walk away or get out. Go to the beach, sleep and dream. But simply walk away from the screaming beast. Nice video. Thanks.

My panic attacks have been due to the toxic people I’ve been around all these years. I’m on my way to recovery thanks to my creator intervening and finding this valuable information. It’s slow but I will make it. I had to ace my whole family including my husband. Starting over over at 55 years old.

I’ve been in a silent war for 55 years now and it’s time for me to live. It has almost killed me health wise. I’ve been researching for the last 6 years and I know what I need to do to get things on track. I’ll make it. God has been my rock! If it weren’t for him I wouldn’t be alive because I never understood what has been happening until 2012.

I always wondered whether an experience I had with high heart rate/exhaustion was a panic attack. It was right before my separation...I went to an urgent care and my resting heart rate was high- so they sent me to the ER. Everything was fine but I was convinced I was having a heart issue (my dad died at 46 from heart disease).....it’s really interesting to me that the ER dismissed that idea that it was a panic attack. I’m convinced it was after watching these videos. Also, it makes me wonder about night terrors I had as a child....could those have been panic attacks?

I'd had an issue with stress and panic but the CBT treatment I'd had recommended by my doctor was a disaster . The clinician I had was incredibly inept and just left me disillusioned with the process , also subsequent doctors seemed disinterested . Finding a medical professional who's both sympathetic and capable isn't easy and when you have a self perpetuating stress problem this just adds to issue .

Every video is relevant to my current situation. You are a treasure trove. So glad I found you. Thank you for all your work.

when I have panic attacks I feel like my throat is swelling. I dont know how to better explain it but it's very scary and everytime it happens it feels like something bad is going to happen no matter how many times nothing really happened. I cant shake this feeling, I try to tell myself it's just a panic attack but my mind is racing and I feel out of control, I cant concentrate

I can have huge anxiety, non breathing, non thinking...but not some of the others so not sure if it is an anxiety attack or panic attack. Can it last for days? Married to a narc for 27 yrs. I went from being social to a recluse.

What about panic attacks due to ptsd from abuse?

Fantastic explanation, thank you

Excellent program. Thank you for doing this series. Question: What's the difference between developing Panic or Fear Attacks and Sensory Affective Dysfunction (as in the brain being born predisposed)? Claustrophobia is horrific to deal with as in being in an elevator or shut in on a plane. Are these two different things? I am an Air Force kid survivor as we moved all the time, changing friends and schools never to return. I am now 70. It has taken me a lifetime to educate myself about Sensory problems and Panic or Fear attacks.

I feel updating this model is important to health professionals. Fear can be observed by the rational mind as it is occurring. You realize FEAR is the only reality. TERROR. Not as elusive as "worrying" about heart attack or embarrassing yourself. The FEAR is inescapable. You are correct in stating that FEAR of FEAR becomes the new reaction. The body and mind remember it well. Sweating, heart pounding etc are panic related but the presence of FEAR is one of the worst human reactions. I have been dealing with advanced fear partly because of withdrawal from Celexa. Psychiatrist disagrees. I know! Read the science papers. The drug enhanced my fear reaction because I lived through it. Once I stopped taking drugs that change brain chemistry, I did the unthinkable: I started to face that TERROR. It has taken me 3 plane trips including 1 trip to a Greek Island by myself. I still detest elevators, crowds but I don't care about that. The FEAR attacks that occurred at 3 am or just walking down a street in June (not triggered) were drug related. I am normally claustrophobic and will remain so for the rest of my life. Fear and Terror were in another classification. Look to not increasing medication but wean yourself off to try find another way.

All I can say is...I wish I had known this years ago.

Me! They are dreadful. They cut me up sometimes, like razor blades. 😫

Had a panic attack about a week ago, and it's not fun at all. First time getting a panic attack.
I was loosing it and I walked back and forth in my house for 3 hours! trying to figure out why my heart was pounding out of my chest. Went to see my doctor and apparently i was low on potassium and magnesium.
And looking back on my health history I've been low on potassium and magnesium since middle school. Is that bad for future health? I'm very stubborn and usually try and excuse any pain or just ignore it, or "man up" and say nothing. If I die Young I would like to know.

My attacks include feeling like I’ve been hit by a big ocean wave and having the breath knocked out of me. Lights are too right, movement around me buzzes while making me dizzy, colors are too intense, sounds are deafening, light is too bright. Dr diagnosed but when I tried to go see a psychologist I could not walk out the door to go. It was like slamming up against a big brick wall. The only time I feel safe is with my husband or with my dog.

Can the fear of speaking in public sometimes take the form of a panic attack ?

Thank you so much for this. I have recently come to realize that I was using alcohol to numb my anxiety issues and wounds of an empath and now that I am alcohol free, meditating daily, eating mindfully and all around becoming very in tune and aware, I am having nighttime panics when I try to fall asleep and it’s torture and I don’t know where to begin. I can find a CBT practitioner, of coarse, but I think I need an anti anxiety med just for a short time so I can be healthy in my sleep and not make my fear of an attack bring on more attacks and worsen the problem. I don’t know if a doctor will prescribe me anything since I have alcohol use disorder on my record. Where do I turn?

Explain it well. Red flag ignored with husband was him requesting time out from the Australian Navy because his mother got herself locked in her garage and had a panic attack. Emergency leave or compassionate leave or something.He didn't take the two weeks with her. He decided to travel to a whole other state to see me. Big red flag. Who knew.