Can anxiety attacks happen randomly?

Hi. It’s Jenny at AnxietyBoss.com. Our question today is from Frank in Clinton, Massachusetts. Can anxiety attacks happen randomly?

We all experience panic during our lifetimes, but people who have repeated panic attacks will require medical intervention from a skilled mental health professional. Can anxiety attacks happen randomly? Yes. They can come on suddenly anywhere, anytime and without any obvious triggers. They can last anything from a few seconds long to half an hour and even longer. Recurrent attacks can be triggered by a specific situation where you are unable to escape.

A panic attack may also occur because it forms part of another disorder such as a phobia. These effects of these attacks can take their emotional toll on the sufferer. Because apart from the overwhelming sense of fear, the person often becomes a social recluse fearing a random attack and a physical loss of control.

Panic attacks include some of the following symptoms: trembling, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, nausea and sweating, hot and cold flashes or being lightheaded. During a panic attack, our brain receives a surge of nervous signals to alert us of impending danger, and the amygdala in the brain is alerted and controls the way we respond to danger. There are people, however, who react with anxiety even when there is no danger and they are more prone to these terror attacks.

Whatever the cause of our panic attacks, they are treatable, and the brain can even be trained to respond differently to threatening events. While medication is usually the first preventative measure, cognitive behavioral therapy, focused breathing, relaxation techniques and even homeopathic and herbal supplements are effective, as well as nutritional therapy, which aims to work on the nervous system which becomes depleted during times of stress.