Panic attacks: can they increase in the summer months?

By Cristiano Antonino On Aug 1, 2022

Panic attacks manifest themselves with the sudden onset of intense fear or a sense of malaise and are characterised by a series of both physical and cognitive symptoms

Their aetiology is multifactorial; they can occur in individuals with an anxious temperament, who present ‘familiarity’, following stressful events, but also suddenly and for no obvious reason.

Panic attacks, especially when they are structured as a panic disorder, may intensify in the summer months due to the rise in temperatures and the change in routine of holiday periods.

Panic attacks: what they are and what causes them

‘The first AP never goes away’.

This is a sad truth known to all those who suffer or have suffered from them.

This event, in which patients experience an intense fear of dying, or of losing control of their body and mind, can lead people to develop a constant state of alertness and anguish linked to the fear that such an event may reoccur, the so-called ‘Fear of Fear’.

What it feels like during a panic attack

The common denominator of APs is the fear of losing control, either of the body or the mind.

The manifestations that develop during a panic attack are both somatic and cognitive.

Thus, the psychic symptoms of a panic attack include unwarranted fear; nervousness; feeling of mental numbness and perception of unreality in relation to the world around; difficulty perceiving one’s body normally; and fear of dying or going mad.

The most common of the somatic symptoms, however, is the feeling of air hunger, which fuels the patient’s fear that his or her life is in danger.

Lack of air can be accompanied by tachycardia, chest pain, headache, gastric pain, dysentery, a feeling of dizziness, cold chills or accelerated sweating.

Panic attacks and agoraphobia: What is the link?

Subjects after experiencing an AP tend to put in place a series of ideally protective behaviours, aimed at avoiding being in the places or situations where they experienced the first AP, but this strategy is highly pathological and results in a severe deprivation of freedom.

Agoraphobic behaviour (avoidance) is precisely the outcome of the ‘Panic March’.

Although etymology suggests that agoraphobia is the fear of open spaces, the term is generally also used to describe the fear connected with the fear of not being able to ‘escape’ should an attack occur or of not being able to be rescued.

In particular, complete solitude, whether at home or outside, but also being in places that are too crowded, e.g. public transport or a concert, can cause discomfort.

Even closed places from which it is not possible to move, such as a plane or train or a lift, can cause anxiety in the agoraphobic patient.

Why agoraphobic behaviour increases in summer

Those who suffer from panic attacks and engage in avoidance behaviour may experience a worsening of symptoms in the summer months.

Travelling by means such as ferries, planes, trains, as well as having no escape routes for the duration of the journey are also often very crowded.

All situations, these, that agoraphobics sufferers would normally avoid and that, instead, they are often forced to face due to family needs, or to feel ‘normal’.

The fear of being far from home, from one’s own references, from hospitals in one’s own city, is also an anxiety that many sufferers of these problems experience when one starts talking about holidays.

Holidays for panic sufferers can turn into a real nightmare

Add to this the high temperatures: another factor that could lead to an increase in anxiety symptoms, as heat often leads to physical sensations of fatigue, weakness and the perception of ‘breathlessness’ – all sensations that evoke panic.

How to behave in the presence of panic attacks

It is essential that panic attack sufferers consult specialists. Learning about panic and how to manage it, with breathing exercises and relaxation techniques, is the first step to regaining your freedom and the possibility of really enjoying your holiday.

It takes a little patience, but it is absolutely possible.

Panic disorder and agoraphobia: How to treat it?

Research suggests that a combined approach, i.e. psychological and pharmacological, is the preferred treatment strategy.

Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is the psychotherapeutic approach recognised as most effective to date.

Put simply, it is a specific type of course in which the patient, with the help of the therapist, learns a series of techniques to change their dysfunctional patterns of thinking and behaviour.

It is a therapy that usually lasts a relatively short time, from 4 months to a year.

But what is really crucial is that there is an accurate and timely assessment of the individual case.

If you notice that you have symptoms that can be traced back to panic disorder or agoraphobia, you should seek specialist help as soon as possible.

In fact, there is often the mistaken belief that it is enough to avoid situations or contexts that favour the onset of panic attacks in order to resolve them. In reality, as we have said, anxiety disorders are reinforced by these behaviours and that of ‘keeping panic at bay’ is just an illusion.

It is necessary to acknowledge the problem and, with the support of a therapist, learn how to manage and cope with it in order to overcome it.

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