Why are panic attacks so common in women?
 

Any psychologists here that can explain this? Seems like this is a very common problem nobody talks about --

(1) Guys don't admit to having them when they do

(2) They are becoming more common as people spend more time online and it is weirder to go out into the world. So if you know a lot of chicks who are online a lot, they will be statistically more likely to have them

Probably b/c women freak out and do something to handle it.

Men seem to freak out and kill somebody/something.

lol

Men.

Yeah I don't think many guys would admit to me they have panic attacks... One has to wonder how many people out there are really on medication just to be "normal" -- :1orglaugh

http://www.psych-books.com/Dont_Pani...060951605.html

Ive read it a few times.

I bet if girls had more cock they wouldn't be so jittery...

Would any ladies here be interested in participating in this study?

Hormones

:helpme

Ahh you know that reminds me I do know of a guy that had panic attacks and he told me a book like this really helped him... Maybe I should write one myself... :Graucho

It's pretty sad especially when it happens to an ex-girlfriend... It's never happened to a girl I was dating though...

From what I've read it's because women tend to be much more aware of their body and the sensitivities it experiences.

Apparently panic attacks are when there is an adrenaline (sp?) rush to some sort of situation, and women tend to react more physically to this type of stimuli than men do.

Men tend to shrug "strange feelings" off where women get a bigger response to the "fight or flight" syndrome.

Guess it proves the old theory that women are much more sensitive than men. Alas, in this situation, too much so.

they become overwhelm with attraction to me.

happens less often in guys. there ya go.

funny you say more women seem to have them... i find the opposite to be true... i know alot of men that are on some sort of prozac or zoloft or some kind of medication for "panic attacks".. than i know women on this medication...they are all webmasters :(

Sure..... but , ummmm can you come to my house instead of meeting somewhere and we can just stay inside?

:)
Ivy

Because their breasts push down on their chest and they can't breathe.... causing panic attacks. It's simply biological... nothing else. If you're female and feel a panic attack coming along.. take a DEEP breath and lay down on your side and your symptoms will cease. I hope this helps

Panic attacks have also been known to cause hives so take care of yourself!
http://www.baconstrip.net/_content/g.../beekeeper.jpg

Women are really more in tune with their bodies and surroundings than men are.

My wife has had struggles with panic attacks for a while. It is really a bad thing to watch someone go thru.

I have them myself from time to time. Its really stress more than anything I feel for me personally.

When they hit me, I get outta the house, hop in the truck and head out for a roll. Gotta occpuy the mind.

i know a LOT of men who have panic attacks. maybe less men do admit to it in public or with strangers. but i also know more men, mostly on prozac now, who have full on panic attacks then women.

there are a number of shrinks who believe that women who have panic attacks were sexually molested, and mostly don't remember it. i know a few women who, after therapy, did remember clearly being sexually abused by relatives, and gradually stopped having the panic attacks after they remembered.

I think Holly hit it right on head... MEN!

Actually though, some of you seem to be describing anxiety attacks which is totally different than panic attacks.

If you have an anxiety attack, you can feel tightness in the chest and your heart rate will go up... maybe some emotion from something that JUST happened.

Panic attacks will come out of nowhere. I used to have them quite often during the last year of my marriage. The very first time I had one we were on the freeway on the way to dinner. There was nothing that triggered it. I just felt like I was having a heart attack. That's the only way to descibe it. It feels like 200 lbs is sitting on your chest and you can't fill your lungs up with enough air. You really think you're gonna die. Plus you get confused, disoriented, and have a hard time communicating.

Anyway, we rushed to the emergency room etc etc... and within about 20 minutes I was back to normal, felt dumb, and snuck out of there without them noticing.

The sad part about panic attacks is that it can make you scared to leave your house cuz you fear you might have one at anytime, anywhere you might be. That's why you just have to accept them, let them ride, and know it will be over within 20 min or so.

I think alot of men have them too. They will just hesitate more than women when it comes to contacting a doctor.

My ex (wimp out that he is) would 'pretend' to have panic attacks when the moment suited him (when he didn't want to deal with something).

Well the night that I told my kids (not his children mind you) what was going on with him and that he was not going to be staying with us, etc ,etc.. He dropped to the ground hand to chest once again. I was claiming to have a heart attack. I called the paramedics, they came.. amb took him to the hospital (no lights or sirens). They gave him nitro, etc. Released from the hospital the next day. They told him it was likely a panic attack (if it was anything at all). I guess he's had a couple more since then, by who knows.

I was not aware there was a statistic that women had them more than men.

HAHA I have this vision of you saying "Honey could you take out the trash" and him collapsing to the floor. lol....

How's he doing now that the money ran out?

there's a shitload of male gfyer's who've had panic attacks. Pornkings, Fletch, Mutt, myself, and many others... there's several big threads discussing it.

:thumbsup

hormones

When i go to bed, i can actual feel and hear my hearth beating against my chest...

:glugglug

Not too well I don't think. I've had bill collectors calling here trying to get ahold of him. Must be desparate when they go digging at prior addresses on credit histories.

Maybe it's an occupational hazard??

Asthma and allergies can cause anixety attacks.

:)

I'm not saying that a lot of men don't have panic attacks, and it might be indeed that since men are "men", they don't readily admit to it as women do.

From Google..couple of items..the 2nd one very telling especially in regards to the webmasters that have posted who say they suffer from panic attacks.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/74/89136.htm

Sept. 22, 2003 -- After age 50, a woman is at high risk for panic attacks -- especially if she has faced stressful life events and health problems.


That's the finding from a new study in this week's Archives of Internal Medicine.


Panic attacks are a distinctive form of anxiety more common in women than men.

A full-blown panic attack is defined as an attack of sudden fear for no apparent reason, anxiety, or extreme discomfort.
-------------

OR

Anxiety disorder has many faces. According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), panic disorder is one of several anxiety disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and phobias such as social phobia and agoraphobia. Panic disorder typically affects women and young adults with workaholic, "type a" personalities, but it also can be found in children, or can begin later in life.

I wonder if those webmasters on gfy who suffer from panic attacks would consider themselves a "type a personality"?

I had them for a year atleast..good high school is over. got one friend and a whole class I never talked to..don't know why I felt like I needed to be with her all the time..maybe I was too nice. :(

I got some major shit in classes sometimes thought I was going to explode....damn´I had some major problems with people :(

girls dont drink as much beer

beer- the cure?

One of the nice things about message boards..and I think gfy in this case especially is how you can read what others say and realize how much in common you have with others..even those "dark secrets" that you think only *I* can be this way.

Max..I think all of us have struggled big time at some point in our life with other people, and may still be struggling.

Ditto on hormones!

I never thought of panic and anxiety attacks as being separate. My doctor groups them together.

One thing that stops my panic attacks is having a prescription for Ativan handy. I don't have to take it. I just know it is there. It calms me knowing that if by chance my body goes crazy and I think I am dying, all I have to do is swallow a little pill, and within minutes, I am fine, with no side effects. If you are lucky enough to find something that works for you, I assure you that you will not suffer so much. It's very difficult to describe what you feel in the middle of a panic/anxiety attack unless you have been there. Once you experience an attack, you will never laugh at those who are victims of this terrible disabling "problem!"

I started suffering panic attacks about 3-4 years ago.

There was a 6 month period of time I was completely incapacitated by these thihgs. It got to the point I was afraid to go to sleep because I thought I would slip off and die.

I didn't leave the house for about a month at one point becaue I was in constant fear of being away from a phone to call 911 etc.

If I did leave the house no one in my family knew this but wherever they took me *I wouldn't drive* I had the trip pre-planned in my head so I'd know exactly where the nearest hospital, or satellite emergency center was.

I didn't know what the hell was wrong with me. I was in and out of emergency roooms 2-3 times a week if not more.

They would give me valium, adovan etc and my heart rate would take forever to drop.

Physicians kept trying to tell me that it was more than likely a panic attack because after many ekg's etc they could not find anything wrong with me or my heart.

But I didn't trust anyone, which fed into the panic attacks.

I finally came to a point during this time where I said to myself..."I'm tired of dying."

Because that is exactly how I felt. Everytime I went through this process, and it is proven your body is reacting to a flight or fight mechanism that has basically gone awry.

YOu are responding to something that is not happening.

Another thing you are doing usually is not breathing. And once I learned that I realized how true it was. I still find myself some days when I have a small attack coming on that I am just holding my breath.

Anyway, doctors prescribed Buspar for me. This drug saved my life, because I honestly did not have one.

I have been druf free going on about 2 years now...and of course I'm talking about the buspar.

I find now I know what triggers most of my panic attacks. It's usually a combination of things.

Lack of outside contact, lack of sleep, diet is off, lack of excersise.

If I sit in front of this computer for 10-12 straight hours, I'm more susceptible to a panic attack.

But now they are quite small, and I know what they are so I don't let them blow out of proportion. I usually step back, take some deep breaths, and maybe even go lie down for a nap.

Just wanted to add, as a man I'm not ashamed to admit that I had panic attacks.

If I could help people avoid the nightmare that is anxiety disorder by sharing with them my experiences I'm more than happy to do it.

P.M.S

Wow..sounds like hell that you were going through. Do admire you for having the courage to share the experience too.

Knowing that some things can be very real even when they are not helps me to understand some of my own "quirks" and to realize that even nebulous situations can seem as dangerous as anything.

What is Buspar? A tranq or what?

http://www.buspar.com/

Doctors rarely gave me any kind of tranquelizers.
Being on benzodiazepams like valium etc can actually be harmful.
Not only are they highly addictive, but when you stop taking them some of the side effects are....lol...panic attacks. :)

So from my own experience I found it was best to learn how to cope with them, recognize the signals and recognize what was happening.

I still have small panic attacks on occassion, but I am nowhere near the acute stage I was in back then.

But re: tranqs etc. I feel while in the acute stages do whatever you think is best to get through that 5 minutes, or 5 hours of hell.

I know of guys who have panic attacks, just as much as women. Women probably appear to have more, because women have far more stress related anxieties than men. Men tend to have more suppressed reactions to stress and other emotions.

I started having panic attacks when I was 16. At first I thought I was dying. They started happening while I was driving, out of nowhere, I suddenly felt overwhelmed, couldn't breathe and basically out of it. It is VERY scary and until you get assurance from a fleet of doctors at the ER, you believe you are going to die. I don't take any medication for them, they are not that often or potent anymore. My best method of getting through them, is talking myself out of them. I take deep breaths, walk away from whatever I am doing and I keep reminding myself that it will pass, even though I have felt that I was on my death bed several times and started reciting the Lord's prayer. :1orglaugh

I have noticed that my attacks come when I am sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation can cause a LOT of psychological disturbances and you would be surprised at the help a good night's sleep can deliver. When you panic, your body and mind are begging for relaxation and the best cures, are often to most back to nature simplistic ones. :thumbsup

agreed.

I'm seeing more and more webmasters with this problem, I think perhaps people who have panic attacks are more likely to stay indoors and on a computer than those who don't.

Some of you knew my husband Buzzard who just died the end of June. He suffered from panic attacks horribly, and I truly believe it shortened his life. He was afraid to go out of the house, and when he was well, it wasn't as much of a problem as it was when he got sick. Going to the doctors office was a huge deal and it was very difficult for him to get himself there. So he put it off as much as possible. Near the end though, I convinced him to go to a psychaitrist and see if something could be done for these attacks, because it was affecting his health. The doctor prescribed Effexor and what a change! After taking it for about 2 weeks, he started wanting to go out, we went everywhere together, he was in a wheelchair by this time, so we'd pack it up in the car and bring along all the things that made him comfortable and go out to aquariums, and stereo shops ( two of his favorite things.) We went out more together during those last five months than we'd ever done the 7 years we were together.

Now, effexor may not be for everyone, but it sure helped him, he was like a new person.. no more being afraid to do things like take medicine, or thunderstorms, or falling asleep, or going outside... I feel sorry for people that suffer with this, it's a terrible thing, it really affects all parts of your life.

panic attacks are just another method for those bitches to draw
more attention to em.. ignore it and itll go away.

I'm sorry about your husband passing :(

That's another thing about panic attacks... sometimes during one, you know you are tired, yet you are afraid to fall asleep because you think you will die. It's a horrible feeling... but thankfully people are finding more ways to cope with them and in many cases, avoid them all together :thumbsup

I tend to have panic attacks when I am alone... rarely when I am around other people.

it's hard to ignore something that's right there in your face.. kind of like your post

EXACTLY my point! There you have it!

No people = no attention = panic attack!

I had a panic attack once, it sucked donkey balls. :(

you are confused darling.. when women have PMS.. there is no panic attack involved... maybe a knife attack on some stupid man being a dumbass..:1orglaugh

I am no woman but I am almost an expert on panick disorders. 6 years ago I started getting them. 6 months later I was confined to my house only to leave to go to the hospital because I thought I was having a heart attack. I had no idea what was going on. I could not breathe, was scared to fall asleep and my heart was always pounding. I was prescribed Ativan to calm my nerves. Only then did I realize what was really happening. All the drugs I did as a youngster made me paranoid and anxious. The chemical imbalance in my brain which caused the anxiety condition heightened that. It wasen't until I was on medication for some time and quit smoking weed for good that I was able to control it. Now 6 years later I don't get panick attacks. I still get anxious sometimes when I am not keeping myself busy or if I am overtired but nowheres near what I WAS going through years ago.

My ex, currently roomate has panick attacks. Her's are hardcore because she is emotional. ALmost gotta babysit her when it happens to her. It is directly related to her stress

I think the thing about my panic disorder that is most difficult is how hard it is for people who don't have them to understand them.

My fiance is great, but he can't wrap his head around how irrational they are. It doesn't matter if there isn't a threat where we are, if the panic comes, I have to deal with it. Sometimes, if it's really bad, we have to adjust some plans we have made and that's tough on both of us.

I hate it. I have some other health problems that suck, but if I could choose to remove one, it would be the panic. It is the worst by far.

re: webmasters with panic. I'm not sure which came first, the panic or the webmastering.. chicken.. egg. :) For me, the anxiety came first. I had been having really bad problems for a couple years when I got in on a study at Stanford and got effexor. Things improved enough on the meds that I was able to enroll in college via distance learning. I still wasn't able to sit in a classroom 5 days a week, but it was progress.

After a few months I started to realize that I may never go back to a cubicle in a "regular job". I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my life. Then I took a web design class elective for fun over summer break. As a joke, I put up a porn site on Adult Check and then was shocked when money started to arrive in the mail. Voila! A career was born. One where I can take time for myself when it's bad, or I can be very productive when it's good.