What if I have a panic attack and no one saves me?
About a third of fearful flyers fear not the plane itself, but their own state on board. We explain why a panic attack is safe and how to deal with it.
About a third of fearful flyers associate their fears not with the aircraft as a vehicle, but see their own state on board, or more precisely a possible panic attack, as the main source of threat.
If a person is predisposed to panic attacks, they will most likely try to stay in places where they can leave at any moment and get help. A panic attack is perceived as a threat to health or even life, so it seems logical that there should be an opportunity to receive medical assistance at any moment.
Such a sense of danger leads to an increase in the intensity and frequency of attacks. The brain says: - Since this state is so dangerous, I need to pay huge attention to monitoring whether it is starting. - But he who seeks always finds. And any symptom, whether it is a slightly faster heartbeat or sweaty palms during takeoff, is perceived as the beginning of that very terrible panic attack.
What is a panic attack
It is important to understand: a panic attack is just a fear mechanism that was mistakenly turned on in a situation where there is no real threat. Fear is a protective mechanism; its task is to ensure our survival in the face of a real or imagined threat.
The main hormone of this mechanism is adrenaline. This is the same hormone that doctors inject into a person if they are unstable during surgery. Adrenaline helps us survive: it speeds up the heart, increases attention, and mobilizes the body. What was created by nature for rescue and protection cannot harm us.
Adrenaline is safe. Consequently, fear and panic attacks are safe as well.
How to work with this
Many people understand perfectly well at a logical level that a panic attack is safe. However, the feelings of guilt, shame, and subconscious expectation of punishment for - bad behavior - or - bad feelings - associated with it often turn out to be stronger than logic. Therefore, it is important to work on two levels:
- In the moment: help yourself with neurobiological exercises that ground you and return you to the here and now; give up safety behaviors; work with incorrect automatic thinking.
- In the long term: offload the nervous system from the burden that a person often carries inside for years.
Because a panic attack is a kind of pain mechanism. It shows us that something requires attention. That the nervous system can no longer cope, often with accumulated tension, suppressed emotions, the inability to say - no - and a constant desire to control everything around.