Panic Attacks in the Social Media Era

And, um, at least in the United States, they're the number one cause of emergency room visits because people are convinced that they're dying of a heart attack, only to be told that everything looks normal.

Um, uh, people experience, you know, sudden terror when they're, they're driving, they're shopping, uh, definitely like public speaking.

Um, but it's, it's, uh...

I think with the modern digital environment and the ex- amount of exposure and content and social comparison, you know, nonstop news, a lot of, you know, performance pressure, how all these different companies use algorithms, uh, to, to drive a lot of emotional content and, you know, an expectation of being available almost, you know, 24 hours a day, seven days a week in order to repost something or to look at something or, or to respond.

And I don't th- yeah, yeah, I'm, yeah, I'm not saying social media directly, you know, causes panic disorder, but it could definitely, um, amplify, you know, stress and, and hypervigilance and, and anxiety that make panic symptoms, I think, more likely or more distressing.

But, you know, what exactly is panic? It's, it's essentially a, a sudden urge of intense fear or, or discomfort that really kind of reaches a peak within, within minutes, and it's accompanied by, you know, a cluster of, you know, physical and, you know, cognitive symptoms.

And panic attack, panic disorder is not just extreme anxiety.

It, it's, it's really the activation of the, the, the sympathetic, the autonomic nervous system and the one branch of being the sympathetic nervous system.

So think of it as I'm...

the body is sympathizing with the perceived distress that the person's in.

So getting into the fight or flight even when there's no immediate, uh, external danger.

So you get stuff like, um, you know, racing hearts and chest pain, shortness of breath, sweating, trembling, dizziness, nausea, um, tingling sensation, sometimes hot flashes, um, a feeling of detachment, uh, like detached from reality or detached from, you know, oneself.

And this is, kind of segues into a different disorder, which is called depersonalization and derealization.

And a lot of people often confuse the terms, will say, "Well, I'm dissociating," and that's a totally different diagnosis and symptom category that's, that's really part of the, the, the trauma disorders.

Um, and, you know, sometimes people, it feels like having a panic attack goes on forever and ever and ever.

But the data shows they, they generally last about 10 to 11 minutes, and then some...

And people feel exhausted after because the body is in a fight or flight response.

And, um, you know, uh, it, you know, p- a lot of people think when they're having a panic attack that they are dying because our brain was designed to prioritize survival.

And I've mentioned this before, you know, the amygdala, it, it's the alarm system, and it, it, it's very rapid and necessary to detect potential threats.

So when it gets activated, um, the sympathetic nervous system tells the body, "Okay, fight, flight, or freeze." And this is, it causes, I think, the, the, this cascade of, of physiological responses.

You know, um, adrenaline is racing, pupils become dilated, heart rate, you know, faster breathing, heightened alertness.

Because again, the fight or flight response, you know, the body is diverting energy and blood flow to whatever systems are necessary to get, um, get ourselves out of, you know, perceived imminent dangers.

Um, and you know, if our, one of our, you know, basic, um, functions is to survive, these, these feelings and sensations are actually adaptive.

The problem though with panic is when the alarm system is activated and there is no actual danger, because the body is reacting as though you're facing a life-threatening situation, even if you're standing in line at a grocery store, if you're going, uh, you know, you're in a crowd at a concert, even if you're sitting in your car in, in, in traffic.