When the body is still and there is no action, there can be a panic attack. The body is being prevented from fighting or fleeing which is what it is setting up to do. And then the panic attack itself can be a source of trauma that leads to a self-feeding, escalating vicious cycle.
Thankfully, panic attack treatment is typically straightforward – a combination of learning tools and if necessary the traumatising the memory of the attack.
Begin at the beginning – what is the physiology of Panic attacks
Oxygen is a very sticky molecule and without the aid of carbon dioxide it cannot be readily released to be absorbed by the cells that need it. And so when the oxygen is breathed out too quickly but with no action (hyperventilation) it takes precious carbon dioxide with it that have not yet done its job properly yet. With even less carbon dioxide, we feel oxygen starved (even though we are taking in plenty).
So we attempt to breathe more and more but this is the last thing we need as the availability of carbon dioxide diminishes even further and so further reducing the availability of oxygen.
The results can be severe chest pains, considerable fright, a real fear factor arising, even a fear of dying. There is trembling and shaking, difficulty speaking and so on – a terrible experience.
You are not dying and you are not having a heart attack. Your body can cope even though the signals from your primitive brain are screaming no.