What are nocturnal panic attacks?
Night-time panic attacks are those that suddenly startle you in the night for no apparent reason. T he affected persons often feel signs of shortness of breath or palpitations, in severe cases feelings such as fear of death and helplessness can also be added. This is often accompanied by outbreaks of sweating, dizziness or hot flushes.
Typical for such a nocturnal panic attack is that they occur in complete rest. The causes are very diverse and cannot always be clearly identified. The main problem with such a nocturnal panic attack is usually that a single panic attack quickly ends in a cycle.
If a person has had such a seizure more than once, it is very likely that he or she will suffer another night-time panic attack in the future. What is a panic attack anyway? You will find the answer on the main page under Panic Attacks
Causes of nocturnal panic attacks
The causes of nocturnal panic attacks are very diverse and are still not fully understood. However, there are several causes that are closely related to nocturnal panic attacks. For example, the connection between genetics and the triggering of nocturnal panic attacks has been clearly proven.
Various dysfunctions in brain activity can also have an influence on nocturnal panic attacks. In addition to molecular, physical causes, psychological causes can also be increasingly brought into a strong correlation. For example, traumatic childhood experiences such as neglect, sexual abuse, alcohol abuse or even violence in the family can be a cause of nocturnal panic attacks.
Traumatic experiences in later life can also be a cause. These include events such as divorce or the death of one or more relatives. People with a generally lowered anxiety threshold also tend to have nocturnal panic attacks.
If these people show mild symptoms, they often interpret the symptoms too intensively, causing the anxiety to build up further and further until it ends in a possible panic attack. Stress or general avoidance behavior can also trigger a nocturnal panic attack. In general, it can be said that those affected unintentionally interpret the symptoms too strongly and thus become more and more involved in the fear and the accompanying panic.
Would you like to know more about the causes? So take a look at the following articles:
- What anxiety disorders are there? – Overview anxiety disorders
- Mental illness
- Consequences of stress
A link could also be established between substances such as alcohol and nocturnal panic attacks.
While alcohol is often seen as a calming agent for stress or even anxiety, the factor that alcohol can just as well induce anxiety is often ignored. In general, occasional consumption of alcohol cannot be clearly associated with panic attacks. However, those who try to get drunk very regularly to combat their anxiety states will make them worse rather than reducing them. Although alcohol is not seen as the trigger or cause of a night-time panic attack, it can make these panic attacks worse. In addition to panic attacks, alcohol consumption can also be the cause of many other diseases.
