The following is a brief overview of what happens in your body when you become anxious or fearful. These reactions happen to some degree even with small amounts of anxiety or fear but are especially pronounced during panic. Note that each physiological response produces a corresponding sensation that you may notice. People with panic problems, especially Panic Disorder, often notice these sensations and become afraid of them. Since the sensations are part of the fear response, becoming afraid of them triggers the fear even more, contributing to a vicious cycle. Take a look at the overview:

• Fight or Flight responses are nature’s way of preparing you to deal with danger by fighting or fleeing.
• It is an automatic response involving activation of your sympathetic nervous system in which adrenaline and noradrenaline are released.
• If there really was a threat, the big muscles in the arms and legs would need plenty of blood and oxygen to mobilize a person to fight or flee.
• Oxygen is needed to prepare a person to move and increases respiration so the heart pumps faster to get the oxygen to the major limbs.
• Since blood is going more to the arms and legs, other areas not needed for immediate survival, like the skin, hands, feet, and the gastrointestinal system, shut down.
• When there is less blood flow to these areas cold, tingles in the extremities, and numbness may be experienced (even chills or hot flashes in some people). Since the stomach shuts down, stomach problems involving digestion and stomach acid are very common.
• As a person heats up due to increased oxygen and heart rate, sweating occurs.
• Pupils dilate to increase the visual field, producing visual changes that some people misinterpret as a sign of something wrong.
• As the body gears up to fight or flee (or to engage in high activity) an imbalance is created when the high activity does not take place. The oxygen is in excess of what is really needed, producing symptoms of lightheadedness, dizziness, feeling unreal, and blurred vision.

Panic feeds on itself causing more Panic. Notice that some of the above changes can produce odd or unusual sensations. Some people notice these sensations and become alarmed by them thinking that something is horribly wrong. For instance, in some individuals a pounding heart can trigger fears of having a heart attack, when in reality the heart is pumping blood and oxygen through your body to mobilize the Fight or Flight Response. When people develop fear of bodily sensations they may develop Panic Disorder. Panic Disorder is like a phobia of the sensations of fear which can lead to a vicious cycle leading to increasing panic: the sensation related to the Fight or Flight Response are misinterpreted leading to panic which causes more of the sensations related to the Fight or Flight response, causing even more panic.

When you experience anxiety, there is a lot of corresponding brain activity. Understanding how anxiety affects your brain is crucial in helping you to get better. Let’s take a look at the anxious brain.

Key Points Related to the Physiology of Fear

• The Fight or Flight Response is nature’s way of protecting you from danger.
• When fear or anxiety are a reaction to a true danger, your fear response helps you respond to the danger.
• When there really is no danger and you are afraid anyway you have the same physiological response as if you were confronted with a genuine danger. In this case anxiety and panic is a “false alarm”.
• The physiology of fear creates sensations you feel in your body. In Panic Disorder, these sensations can be misinterpreted as something truly catastrophic leading to more panic!
• These sensations are not inherently dangerous and the body cannot maintain the fear and panic response indefinitely: fear is time limited.