Panic attacks

1. Panic attacks

2. My personal story

3. Early events
• At that time I did not know yet about the existence of panic atta
• I remember being asleep on the plane and then suddenly waki
• On several other occasions I woke up form the sleep feeling th
• On one occasion I woke up panicked, screaming, running from

4. The first panic attack
• I was on a postdoc in France.
• Few days before the attack I started feeling chest pain. I was a
• Then one day, on my way to work, my head started spinning, I
• I noticed my pulse was about 150 although I was not running o
• I felt very frightened.
• Later a doctor explained I was having a panic attack. I felt relie

5. • I was afraid to experience the same thing, since I did not unde
• I had spontaneous replicas in the following months.
• My heart rate would suddenly go up fo no apparent reason.
• I was squeezing my jaw until it hurt.
• I had difficulties concentrating.
• Immediately after panic attacks my brain went crazy with hund
• Sometimes I could not sleep.
• I felt fear all the time. Especially a fear of people. I could not st
• Sometimes the first symptoms included dry mouth and a perce
Subsequent attacks

6. Treatment
• A general physician treated me with some pills which prevente
• When I was back in my country of residence, I experienced ar
• A general doctor gave me some pills which turned out to caus
• I went to a psychiatric hospital, where they gave me some opi
• Later I found a good psychiatrist who I am visiting still after 5 y
• Panic attacks are no longer part of my life. I have changed fro

7. About panic attacks

8. Symptoms
• Intense fear
• palpitations
• sweating
• shaking
• shortness of breath
• chest pain
• Derealization
• Depersonalization
• Intrusive thoughts
• dry mouth
• dizziness

9. Causes
Predisposing factors
• Genetic
• Personality
• Lack of well-being
Biological causes
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder
• PTSD
• Hypoglycemia
• Hyperthyroidism
• Wilson's disease,
• Mitral valve prolapse
• Pheochromocytoma
• Inner ear disturbances
(labyrinthitis)
Other
• Short-term stress
• Accumulative stress
• Overcautious view of
the world
May result when up-regulation by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is n
Affected neurotransmitters: serotonin, GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid), dop

10. Pathophysiology
1. Sudden onset of fear
2. Release of adrenalin
3. Fight or flight response
4. Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, shortness of breath, sweating
5. Drop in CO2 levels in blood and lungs.
6. Shift in blood pH (respiratory alkalosis)
7. Metabolic acidosis
8. Vasoconstriction
9. Less blood flow
10. Dizziness and lightheadedness

11. Treatment
• Lifestyle changes
• Less caffeine
• More aerobic exercise
• Breathing exercises
• Meditation
• Therapy
• Combination of cognitive and behavioral
therapies
• Medication

12. Epidemiology
• Europe
• 3 % of population
• United States of America
• 11 % of population