by Lawrence Wilson, MD

ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS – THEIR CAUSES AND CORRECTION

Anxiety and panic attacks are now among the most common symptoms in doctor’s offices. Causes for both symptoms include:

Too much stress for any reason. This taxes the nervous system, often results in anxiety or even panic attacks. Simple ways to reduce stress are to simplify one’s lifestyle, be carful with whom one spends time and energy, get plenty of rest and sleep, be sure to exercise a little each day, breathe deeply, be sure to laugh at times, and read uplifting and inspiring books and other inspiring or spiritual material. The bible is helpful for some people, though the old testament is bit violent.

Improving the diet and overall health can enable most people to handle much more stress without anxiety. This is one reason why some people handle stress much better than others.

Often, feelings of anxiety and panic attacks arise due to imbalanced body chemistry. Patterns that show up repeatedly in people with these conditions include the following:

Improper diet. The use of sugar, in particular, in any form in the diet acts as an adrenal stimulant and can cause anxiety or even panic attacks. Other offensive foods are stimulants including caffeine, soda pop, too much refined flour products, and even wheat in any form since this is quite an inflammatory food today. Often a dietary change can reduce anxiety, particularly eliminating all sugar, even fruit and juices, and all caffeine.

Improper lifestyle. Common lifestyle factors that contribute to anxiety and panic attacks are not enough rest and sleep, no exercise or too much exercise. Most people need about one half-hour of gentle walking, gentle bicycling or other gentle exercise several times per week. Too much vigorous exercise eventually depletes the body.

Other possible lifestyle factors are constant dwelling on negative subjects, spending time with selfish or dishonest people, and occasionally other negative habits, such as those discussed in the next paragraph.

Alcohol and drugs. Alcohol quickly depletes zinc and magnesium, two minerals that enable a person to stay calm. A vicious cycle occurs because the more one drinks alcohol, the more tense and anxious one becomes due to nutritional depletion. This can increase the desire for more alcohol. However, this just worsens the nutritional imbalances, that in turn cause more anxiety.

Most recreational and many medical drugs also deplete the body of many nutrients. They also often contain toxic metals and chemicals that further degrade one’s biochemistry. This is another vicious cycle, which is why these habits are so difficult to break free of.

A fast oxidation rate. Fast oxidizers are in a fight-or-flight mode. Part of the body’s alarm stage response to stress is an increase in the irritability or sensitivity of the nervous system. In fast oxidation, the tissue calcium and magnesium levels decrease, as does zinc. Sodium and potassium, meanwhile, increase. This often manifests as a tendency for anxiety.

A slow oxidation rate. Slow oxidizers might also experience anxiety, but for different reasons. These include:

1) Biounavailable calcium and magnesium to some degree, which can cause the same symptom as a calcium and magnesium deficiency.

2) Excess copper, another cause of anxiety.

3) Very low energy and thus difficulty coping with stress.

4) Many slow oxidizers also have higher levels of other toxic metals such as mercury, cadmium or lead that can also contribute to feelings of anxiety.

Copper imbalance. This is the most common cause of panic attacks, in my experience. Copper enhances production of stimulatory neurotransmitters and seems to stimulate the activity of the diencephalon. This is also called the ‘old brain’ or ‘animal brain’, or the emotional brain. One becomes generally more emotional, which can lead to anxiety and panic attacks.

Toxic metals. The presence of mercury, for example, is associated with anxiety, confusion and other emotional symptoms. This is well-known in history as the case of the “mad hatters” of Alice in Wonderland. Workers in the hat felt industry became somewhat mercury poisoned in the mid-eighteenth century. They often developed symptoms of anxiety, among others. Other toxic metals can also cause anxiety, including lead, cadmium, arsenic and others. They do this, in part, by interfering with and even replacing calcium and zinc in the body.

Sugar intolerance, hypoglycemia and diabetes. Low or fluctuating blood sugar levels are a common cause of anxiety today. One can easily tell if low blood sugar is the cause because eating something sweet will cause it to go away within 10-20 minutes in most cases. At least half the population has severely fluctuating blood sugar levels. At times, it is easy to correct by reducing all sweet foods in the diet and eating protein and perhaps some fat every three or four hours. Removing the underlying causes, however, is much more work.

Nutrient deficiencies. Deficiencies of the following nutrients may cause anxiety: calcium, magnesium, zinc, essential fatty acids and vitamins A and D3. Most people who are anxious and prone to anxiety attacks are deficient in these “sedative nutrients”. Many other nutrients are also important, such as B-complex vitamins, in some cases, as well as most others.

Generalized inflammation. Anxiety and panic attacks are somewhat like psychological or emotional forms of inflammation. Many people today have an inflamed body chemistry. This can be due to numerous imbalance such as iron or manganese toxicity, aluminum imbalance, low zinc, a high sodium/potassium ratio or others.

Liver toxicity. Many people who have had multiple surgeries or who take medical drugs, use alcohol or work in toxic occupations have high levels of toxic metals and chemicals in their livers and other organs. One cannot tell this from appearance, and it may not show up on one’s initial hair analysis, either. These people are more prone to many conditions, among them anxiety and panic attacks.

Taking too much or the wrong vitamins and minerals. Certain vitamins such as B-complex are stimulatory and will cause anxiety and even panic attacks in some people. Minerals such as copper, manganese and others are also stimulatory. Certain herbs such as ginseng, guarana, licorice root and many others are also somewhat stimulatory and can cause the same symptoms. Be very careful with herbs, in particular, as many contain a little toxic metals. If used over a period of time, they can become quite toxic.

Reactions to foods or toxic chemicals in foods or in the environment. Occasionally, allergic reactions to anything cause severe anxiety. Often the cause is a “leaky gut”, meaning the food chemicals leak through the intestinal wall and may irritate the glands or the nervous system. In other cases, the allergy or sensitivity may be respiratory or due to contact with the skin. Often, the adrenal glands are unable to compensate for allergic phenomena, in these cases.

Some Infections. For example, a common digestive problem that causes anxiety in some cases is chronic candida albicans infection. It produces certain chemicals such as acetaldehyde and many others that may irritate the nervous system. Just following a candida diet may not be enough to get rid of it. Do not take toxic drugs for this condition, as they are rarely needed. Nutritional balancing usually solves this easily, though an excellent diet and time are often required to rebuild the body chemistry.

Fatigue or low energy from any cause. Fatigue alone will cause anxiety. The feeling arises because the body does not have the energy to handle stress. This is an extremely common cause of anxiety. After a few night’s of great sleep, or a nutritional balancing program, if needed, these feelings disappear because one is now much more able to handle stress of all kinds.

Incorrect thinking. Life should be easy and enjoyable. While stressful situations will arise, they should not occur that often if one is living correctly. However, many people entertain negative thoughts that can actually create a lot of ‘drama’ and problems in one’s life. Also, when the body chemistry is out of balance, more negative thoughts tend to arise, which, in turn, can cause anxiety and, at times, panic attacks.

Getting rid of negative thinking is often a life-long task. One can listen and read uplifting and balanced material, which I hope this website is an example of. Another method is the use of the Roy Masters meditation exercise and perhaps other prayers and affirmations that can help to shift the mind. Also, it is essential to gently rebuild and balance the body chemistry with nutritional balancing science. Random nutrition programs are rarely too helpful, in my experience, and can even make a person worse.

Other. At times, other illnesses, chiropractic misalignments or other biochemical or structural imbalances and nutrient deficiencies can cause anxiety and even panic attacks. Even electromagnetic stress from wiring or cell phone use may cause anxiety in sensitive people.

HOW PANIC ATTACKS OCCUR

A panic attack occurs when irritability or anxiety feeds back in a vicious cycle and causes a fight-or-flight reaction affecting the body. This, in turn, makes the person more panicky, which, in turn, feeds back and worsens the stress response. It can escalate in a few seconds or minutes until it overwhelms a person. If one deeply understands this process it is possible to stop the attacks by breaking the vicious cycle that creates them. In fact, this is the mechanism for many types of panic disorders including hypoglycemic attacks, PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder, at times, and perhaps others.

CORRECTING ANXIETY AND PANIC ATTACKS

Correction or prevention of panic attacks requires breaking the vicious feedback cycle described above before it escalates out of control into a full-blown episode. This can be done by:

1. Reducing excessive sensitivity of the entire central nervous system.

2. Reducing or moving triggers of all kinds that start the attack.

3. Interrupting the vicious cycle or positive feedback loop in some way.

Nutritional balancing is often extremely helpful for symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks, even when the causes are not simply nutritional or biochemical. In these cases, the correct diet and a few targeted supplements can still reduce the sensitivity of the nervous system to all stress and therefore provide some relief, often very quickly as well.

In fact, symptoms often begin to correct within a matter of days. This occurs in many cases because with a properly interpreted hair analysis, one is able to pinpoint the cause.

Guesswork and symptomatic approaches to anxiety and panic attacks such as just taking valerian, chamomile tea or calcium and magnesium supplements may help, at times, but usually do not address the underlying cause of anxiety.

In extreme cases, several months or more are needed to resolve anxiety. This is because many layers of imbalances must be unwound or resolved and this cannot be done overnight. In these and other cases, the observation-meditation offered by Mr. Roy Masters can be very helpful along with nutritional balancing science.

Other methods that may also help range from slow, deep breathing and relaxation procedures to various body therapies, counseling and others. The use of tranquilizer drugs, I find, is never, or very rarely needed if one balances the body chemistry and takes care of the imbalances discussed above.

Courses | About Dr. Wilson | Contact Us | The Free Basic Program