If you've ever experienced panic symptoms, then you know that your body functions completely differently during an attack. Sweating, heart palpitations, dizziness, and breathing difficulties are just some of the common reponses. But do you know what happens in your brain when you're having a panic attack? We wanted to know too, so a little bit ago we did some research, and here's what we found.
In 2007 the University College of London published findings in the Science journal which show that your brain does, in fact, function differently under extreme anxiety or panic. How did they do this? By scanning the blood flow of the part of the brain that was most active. During a panic attack, your blood flow activity shifts from the front of your brain (prefrontal cortex) where you rationalize and make decisions to the middle of your brain (periaqueductal gray) where you have survival responses such as wanting to flee.
In anxiety jargon the "fight or flight" response is your body's response to a perceived threat. In the heightened state of anxiety, your blood flow dominates the center of your brain, forcing your thoughts from to go from rationalization to reaction. This is why it is so hard to stop a panic attack once it has begun. Trying to calm down mentally is like getting a shot of novacaine after drilling for a filling.
So the brain is your command and control center during heightened anxiety. When you have a panic attack, your mind shifts into a panic mode and so to restore the normal order, you need to learn how to switch the mental activity back to the rational part of your brain. Many doctors will prescribe anxiety medication as their first course of action, but on the whole this offers very little help and no cure to those who suffer from panic attacks. A good treatment is one that teaches you to work through your emotions.
The feeling of safety has been proven clinically to have a profound effect on the brain. It moves the brain's activity (blood flow) from the middle to the front automatically. New Techniques are now being used worldwide to teach anxiety sufferers how to feel safe to stop an attack.