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How panic attacks spread
For survival purposes, once we have 'learned' that a certain situation
is dangerous by panicking, the mind 'remembers' this fact to ensure
that the next time it sees a similar situation, it can give you
the necessary anxiety or panic to enable you to run or fight, just
like the woman in the story.
This is not the normal type of 'remembering' like remembering a
name or telephone number, it is the sort that makes you feel good
when you hear a particular piece of music, or feel happy when you
look at holiday photos, or maybe feel a bit like a kid again when
you walk into school as an adult.
'Sloppy' Unconscious pattern matching
We call this type of remembering 'unconscious pattern matching'
because it is the 'back part' of your mind, the unconscious mind,
that causes you to react in a certain way when it spots a particular
situation or other 'trigger'.
So if you have a panic attack in a car, you might feel anxious next
time you are on a bus or train, because the situation is roughly
similar. As far as survival goes, it is much better for us to 'err
on the side of caution'.
When a cliff becomes a gorge
The woman in the story above came to a cliff that roughly matched
her terrifying experience in the gorge. She had 'learned' unconsciously
that 'high rock walls=danger'.
Despite the fact that she knew consciously that this was a different
situation, her unconscious mind, looking out for her survival, 'erred
on the side of caution' and gave her the necessary resources to
get out of there fast.
What does this tell us about treatments for anxiety and panic
attacks?
It tells us:
- that we have to take into account the unconscious aspects when treating these problems.
- that they are natural responses that can become habitual ones.
- that this can look like a problem with body chemistry, but that this not true in the vast majority of cases.
- that new skills, approaches and understandings can show us how to be calm again in situations that previously caused anxiety and panic.
