Hey Glory

This is a really good question that I have wondered about myself.  I get panic attacks from time to time and they are no fun.  Your heart races, you get this feeling of doom, and you feeling like you wanna die. 

In reading up on this, it seems that panic attacks can be hereditary and run in families.  It is definitely associated with depression and mood disorders in general.  Anxiety and depression seem to go hand in hand.  Major life transitions can bring about panic attacks such as graduating from school, getting a new job, getting married, and having a baby.  Major life stressors like a death in the family, losing one's job or home, and getting a divorce can also bring them on. 

Medical issues can also be a cause for panic attacks including:  Hyperthyroidism, hypoglycemia, using stimulants, withdrawl from certain medications, and cardiac problems. 

Phobias can also cause panic attacks when we are in situations where we have been anxious or frightened before.  Heights do it for me.  People who have Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome also experience panic attacks related to their personal triggers.

For me personally I get them associated with thoughts in my head.  I was in the supermarket once and it was very crowded.  The thought got into my head that if there was a fire, that I would be trampled to death.  I felt like I was suffocating just at the thought and I had to exit the store without buying anything.  I had another panic attack like this at a crowded wave pool.  It seems crowds are my trigger.

Panic attacks happen when our fight or flight response is kicked in for whatever reason.  Usually there is some sort of trigger whether it be the situation at hand or a thought in your head.  The feelings during a panic attack are ones of feeling trapped and needing to escape so it makes sense that I feel panic during times when I feel no immediate escape is possible. 

My personal viewpoint is that extreme stress, trauma, and depression alters our wiring so that we are more sensitive to any little thing which trips our wire to producing that flight or fight feeling.  We are so geared for it that it misfires.  But this is just my opinion.

I am sure there are whole books written on this topic alone.  But I hope this helps some. 

Thank you for asking this question.