What you experienced at that moment is known as a panic attack, a frightening condition in which your system goes on high alert for no apparent reason, bringing about an unreasonable sense of danger or fear. Panic attacks are a psychological disorder that medical professionals feel is triggered by your latent fight or flight reaction. The typical panic attack occurs and peaks within minutes, then abates, causing extreme fatigue in the person who experiences it.
Some people have just one or two such attacks in their life. With others, panic attacks can be a recurring issue, a debilitating condition that can have a profound impact on the ability to live a normal life. In that case, where you’ve had several and fear another attack, you have what is known as panic disorder.
The Perelman School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania estimates that 1.7 percent of Americans will have a panic disorder at some point. Most often the attacks arrive before age 24, particularly if the affected person has had a recent traumatic experience.
No one knows what causes this disorder, which strikes women twice as much as men. But researchers believe it runs in families and thus has a genetic component. The disorder can continue for years, in some cases with long gaps between attacks, causing significant problems with family, social relationships and employment. Major stress is also a trigger, as is a depressive outlook. In some cases, it may be a sign of a physical change in the brain.