Why Women Are More Susceptible to Panic Attacks?

By Ai Qin Lee

Rapid heartbeat, trembling, migraine, tension, throat constriction, hot flashes, and sweating are some of the signs that a person is having a panic attack. Panic attacks are very sudden and are related to variety of psychological symptoms. There are no known obvious factors that trigger the attack and it will appear random. However, it is considered as a fight or flight response of the body.

It was stated that in a society, the women are more likely to experience panic attacks than men. However, this statement has no scientific proof that it is true. Maybe genetic is one possible explanation that can defend this statement. Since women are more likely to experience anxiety, depression and moon swings, they are more susceptible to panic attacks.

One of the factors that increase the susceptible of women to panic attacks is childhood sexual abuse. Approximately 25 percent of women in North America were abused during their childhood and about 80 percent of the abusers were their own parents.

Hormonal changes also influence the vulnerability of women to panic attacks. The risk to panic attack of women is normally high at their adolescence, menopause and during pregnancy. Since there is a hormonal fluctuation at these times, the chemical balance is disrupted and, fear and anxiety is increased to the point that it causes panic attack.

At the end of the adolescent stage, women will more likely to suffer from panic attack as the hormonal level changes. The changes lead to other changes such as physical, emotional and social changes. This includes fear and anxiety that may lead to panic attack.

Usually, adolescent girls have more fear of social acceptance than boys. Since humans are social being, rejection from friends and peers may cause trauma. More often, people with panic disorder are considered perfectionist because they have constant fear of committing mistakes.

Women may also be more susceptible to panic attacks few years before menopausal period. In this time, the level of their hormone changes significantly, which cause psychological symptoms. These women, whether mentally healthy or not, would suffer from insomnia and hot flashes.

Usually, the cycle of panic attack will start from the moment the first panic attack occurs and it will begin to affect the life of the patient until the fear of having a panic attack is removed. Women that suffer from cycle of panic attack, endure depression, abuse drug and more often commit suicide.

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