Panic Attacks while...
 
Driving / Sleeping / Pregnant

[This is a transcript of a spoken lecture]

I just finished discussing the major causes of panic attacks - why they happen. Once you can see the logic of why they happen, its pretty easy to see why they might occur even when you're sleeping or driving. And I know you might be thinking - sleeping? That's when I should be the most relaxed! But remember, a big part of what contributes to a panic attack is what's lingering around in your subconscious mind, which are the thought remnants of your entire day, or week, or life. Another big thing about lying in bed is that even if you're only half conscious, you might be lying there doing a bit of thinking... or a lot of thinking, or worrying. And that can definitely trigger a panic attack. More significant, while lying in bed in your own little world, it's also a time that you're very aware of your internal sensations - the feelings inside your body - because you're kind of inwardly focused. And if you remember from my first discussion, how a panic attack takes root, you'll understand why its very likely that while lying in bed with that inward focus it's very easy to start noticing unusual or scary sensations in your body. And that's just starts the process.

The same thing goes for driving as for lying in bed. When we're in our cars, many of us are kind of in our own little worlds - we do a lot of thinking in our cars. This can often mean mental negativity AND a lot of internal body awareness during those times. Once again, this is the perfect environment for a panic attack spiral to start off.

Now with pregnancy, that's a period of months where there's a lot of potentially stressful lifestyle changes going on, as well as a lot of things to worry about and reflect on (things to think about in your future, how it's changing your life, issues and tasks to worry about with the baby and the pregnancy). Not only that, but it's also likely a period where you're staying home by yourself more than usual - you may not be doing as many activities with friends as normal, you may not be going to work for quite a while, etc. Whereas you're usually around co-workers and occupying your mind with things outside of yourself, now you've got a lot more thinking time. And on top of all this, there are significant hormonal changes going on during pregnancy. That's getting beyond the discussion here, but as we discussed, panic attacks are very hormone related.

So are panic attacks common during pregnancy? Yes, absolutely. As for whether they're something that's potentially harmful to your baby, I'm not qualified to say - I'm not a doctor and simply have no idea. But as a former panic attack sufferer, my personal opinion (non professional opinion), is that if my wife were pregnant and experiencing panic attacks, while I don't think that she or I would want her to be taking anti-anxiety medication while pregnant, we would definitely want to get the situation resolved. That would mean talking to the right person, and at the very least getting a second opinion if not satisfied with what a primary doctor advises.

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