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Home | Health | Panic Attacks
Can Smoking Cause Panic Attacks?
By: Chris T. Crawley
Can smoking cause panic attacks is of course a very difficult question, but some studies suggest that there's a chance that smokers are three times more likely to suffer from panic disorder or panic attacks than those that do not smoke.
There has been studies recently that show that smoking does not impact humans only physically, but can also have some mental effect by showing adverse effects when dealt with persons suffering from mental illness.
Symptoms of panic attacks are numerous, for example dizziness, sweating, heart palpitations, choking, chest pain, flushes or chills, fear of dying, trembling and a host of other symptoms.
If one suffers from constant panic attack symptoms or fears them constantly he or she can end up having a panic disorder. In these kind of situations smoking can play a significant role even though it may not be directly linked with the person's condition.
Generally smoking has been shown to increase the risk of an individual who suffers from panic attacks. The risk of a first time panic attack is lower for those who quit smoking although studies are not sure whether risk is lower for regular smokers who quit smoking.
Nicotine is known to cause several kinds of effects on human brain as well as it stimulates the brain causing different array of feelings and effects. It is always recommended that if a person smokes it would be wise to quit as tobacco can induce panic attacks in the case of susceptible persons.
Carbon monoxide is exhaled when individual is smoking and person's brain and at the same time his/her body might think it's suffocating. This is because panic attacks acts as false alarm and carbon monoxide can trigger these episodes in people who are prone to overreacting.
Smoking is actually known to increase body's stress levels and during panic attacks body is really just responding to several stress factors. If you really think about it, person does not feel calmer after smoking, but that is a misconception many smokers have.
Many studies show that different breathing and relaxation techniques are very important as treatment for panic attacks and axniety disorders and smoking does increase the chest breathing for persons prone to such problems.
All this makes learning the right breathing techniques harder to control panic attacks and will add to the suffering of the panic attac patient. This means that smoking does have a direct link with panic attacks, especially when finding some of the easier ways to get rid of those anxiety attacks and not just prevent them.
Article Source: http://www.ezarticles.info
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