Anxiety Panic And Stress

Anxiety and Panic Attacks

When a person has symptoms caused by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS); anxiety can occur. SNS is active on the sympathetic tone base level and stressful situations can increase it’s activity. The “flight or fight” response occurs from here. However, people can have anxiety that is not triggered by outer situations. Anxiety is often based on irrational or illogical fears.

Panic is related to the “fight or flight” mechanism. It’s a reaction brought on by outside stimulus and is a product of the sympathetic nervous system. It is generally a unexpected rise of fear, that dictates to the brain on how to react. This is a stronger defense response the body has in place to help protect itself from a perceivably life threatening or harmful situation. Panic can result from an anxiety state, that a person starts to think about.

Stress, on the other hand, is a psychosocial reaction by the body. It’s influenced by the way a person filters nonthreatening external events. It can develop based on a person’s expectations, assumptions and ideas. All these type of assumptions, ideas and expectations are referred to as: ’social constructivism’; and it may appear to be natural and obvious to those who accept it, but in reality is an invention or artifact of a particular culture or society.

Panic and stress both play important roles in the natural survival instinct. The body defense devices will engage every time the feeling of the need to ’fight or flight’, kicks in. Preparing for which ever course of action is decided upon to preserve life, health or whatever is in danger.

However, anxiety will not only occur when a person is fearful or has a defensive mindset regarding a situation. Escaping situations that make us feel anxious may bring relief, but these feelings are intensified when we face similar situations causing anxiety. This encourages us to escape the situation again instead of working through the anxiety.