Panic attacks during sleep: what they are, causes and signs, how to cope with the problem

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Published: 12/10/2020

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An ignorant person will probably equate the concept of “panic attack at night” with terrible dreams or nightmarish dreams that everyone has at least once. However, panic attacks are identified as a separate type of anxiety disorder and are included in the International Classification of Diseases - ICD-10. Psychological aspects and accompanying pathologies are put at the forefront.

• 1 Causes of attacks 1.1 Psychogenic factor
• 1.2 Biological factor
• 1.3 Physiogenic factors

How to determine if it is a phobia

This state goes beyond ordinary fear.
For example, a person may get scared when walking through the forest and sees a bear. This is a normal adaptive response, part of the body's fight-or-flight response to stress. A phobia is an irrational fear. For example, a person may be deathly afraid of dogs and try to avoid them in any way. In this case, most likely, a dangerous situation will not arise.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, symptoms must last for 6 months or longer, be life-limiting, cause behavioral changes or extreme distress, and not be caused by another disorder.

People have been terrified of the same situation for years. They are aware that their fear is unfounded, but they cannot do anything. In this case, you need the help of a professional, since in addition to psychological disorders, they can be accompanied by a variety of vegetative symptoms: rapid heartbeat, sweating, redness of the face, trembling in the body, dry mouth, nausea, discomfort in the stomach, difficulty breathing and even suffocation.

Experts have identified dozens of phobias. The list includes the strange and absurd - fear of flowers and beards - as well as more understandable ones: fear of the dentist or illness. Let's tell you what each phobia is called.

VSD, Panic attacks

Anonymous user

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December 7, 2020

Good afternoon. I really ask for your help. In August I got sick with Covid. 10 days in the hospital. TYPE against the background of coronavirus. After discharge, my legs began to go numb below the knees. Now 4 months have passed since the illness. And I still feel bad. Numbness in legs does not go away. I feel dizzy at times. Sometimes it hurts. Periodically, the arms go numb from the shoulder to the hand. Not completely, but in places. Slight weakness. Tachycardia in motion. There were strong PAs. But I was able to drown them out. And so on December 5 (2 days ago) I went for an MRI. They told me to check my head + arteries + veins. Let me say in advance that I am wildly afraid of confined spaces. But it had to be done. At the end of the study I felt sick. I felt very dizzy, I had the feeling that I was falling somewhere, and my right hand began to go numb. I called the doctor. He said that we need to wait 3 minutes. Somehow I suffered. They pulled me out of the device, and I could barely stand, I was shaking so much. At home I continued to shake, my blood pressure rose a little. At 12 am I fell asleep. And I woke up with a sore throat (I had a cold) and a headache. I took a pill. After about 30 minutes she helped and I decided to go to bed. But as soon as I lay down, my right arm began to go numb and then it hit me. Wild fear. Panic. The pulse jumped to 136. It became difficult to breathe. My head started to spin. My blood pressure jumped from 143 to 93. I drank kapoten and glycine under my tongue. Let go. But after 10 minutes it came again. I called an ambulance. While I was waiting, they let me go again. Blood pressure and pulse returned to normal. But then it covered me again. The ambulance has arrived. With them, I was once again covered and released. They said that the ECG was normal, the pulse pressure was normal. That I’m having a panic attack due to fear and stress experienced during the MRI. They told me to go to a neurologist. Treat nerves and neck. Since I was lying in the MRI machine, I was very uncomfortable and all the tension was on my neck and head. She held the waistband of her trousers with her hands. And when she let go, my fingers were burgundy. The ambulance left and told me to go to bed. Somehow by 6:30 am I fell asleep. Yesterday I walked around broken all day. I wanted to go to bed. But as soon as I closed my eyes, I immediately felt unwell. It felt like I was lying in this MRI machine. I opened my eyes and everything passed. I slept last night. Fine. Everything is more or less good. And then, out of the blue, I sat and my head suddenly seemed to feel hot, it became somehow unpleasant and a wild fear appeared in it. But I pulled myself together and in less than a minute it passed. About an hour later it happened again. I went to play on the phone. And again the heat in the head. Unexplained sensations in the head. And wild fear. Again, I tried to calm myself down. In a minute it was all over. At the same time, my hands and feet are icy (even under the blanket). Blood pressure is 124 over 84. Before going to the MRI it was usually 108/115 over 77/82. I also noticed that if I now read something bad, I immediately feel unwell. The questions are: 1. What’s wrong with me? Was it after the intense stress from the MRI that these panic attacks appeared? And it’s these sensations that frighten me, like heat and it’s unclear what’s in my head (this had never happened before the MRI procedure). 2. Can PA occur several times a day out of nowhere or from the slightest stress or anxiety? 3. Is my MRI result very bad? 4. How can I cope with fear? I sit and now I’m afraid every minute that this terrible feeling in my head might come over me again. ((( PS I am adding examinations: MRI photo Ophthalmologist photo ENMG of the legs - normal Ultrasound of the arms and legs - arteries are normal. The veins in both the arms and legs are dilated. I take: Eliquis 2.5 mg - 2 times, enalapril 5 mg - in the morning, vitamin D, Picamilon 50 mg - morning and evening.

The question is closed

VSD

panic attacks

200.00 rub.

Mysophobia

People suffering from mysophobia, also known as germophobia, have an excessive fear of germs, bacteria, infection, and dirt of any kind.
Refusal of contact with others, constant hand washing and frequent and very thorough cleaning are signs of mysophobia. Those who have obsessive-compulsive order tendencies are more likely to suffer from it. If you find yourself worrying excessively about germs and it's negatively impacting your quality of life, consider seeking help from a mental health professional.

Agoraphobia

It is estimated that about 1% of adults suffer from agoraphobia. A separate category of phobia, this type of anxiety disorder causes panic when a person encounters certain places or situations. He feels that he has no control over the situation, and getting out of it may be difficult. A common type is fear of loneliness, or monophobia.

What are they afraid of?

• Crowds;
• stay home alone;
• open spaces;
• public transport;
• confined spaces.

How to calm a child

If a child has a panic attack during sleep, the presence of parents will help him get out of this state and calm down. To do this, you can stroke the child, speak to him in a calm tone, and convince him that there is no danger. You cannot fall into a stupor or openly panic, this will only worsen the situation. To completely solve the problem, it is worth showing the child to a psychotherapist.

To prevent a panic attack in a child, the following is recommended:

• give a glass of warm milk to drink before bed;
• brew tea with soothing herbs (mint, chamomile, lemon balm);
• ventilate the nursery well before going to bed;
• if a child has a fear of the dark, it is better to leave the night light on;
• You should not give foods that stimulate the psyche (chocolate, strong tea);
• TV viewing and access to computer games should be limited;
• You need to set your baby up to sleep with positive emotions.

Arachnophobia

Spiders can be scary and disgusting to most people, but an arachnophobe will have a greatly exaggerated, panicked reaction when encountering even the smallest of these eight-legged creatures. If you are so afraid of spiders that you avoid going to places where you think they might be, or you have to leave the house when you see them, you may be one of the approximately 5% of people who have this phobia.

Consequences and possible complications

The more often panic attacks occur during sleep, the more negative consequences they bring with them, and some of them may be irreversible. All this not only has a detrimental effect on a person’s mental state and health, but also brings a lot of difficulties into his life and disrupts interaction with society.

The main problem is insomnia, since repeated attacks develop a kind of defensive reaction and fear of falling asleep. As a result, the following complications arise:

• decreased performance;
• deterioration of memory and mental abilities;
• constant drowsiness;
• depression and depression;
• slow reaction;
• disruptions in the functioning of the endocrine system;
• problems with the cardiovascular system;
• exacerbation of existing chronic diseases.

If you do not take countermeasures, new diseases develop, and a person is afraid of going crazy.

A few more interesting phobias

Metro

In megacities there are many more irritants that can become the object of phobia. For example, after explosions in residential areas of the capital, residents began to fear terrorist attacks, and tragedies in the metro led to metrophobia.

And although, according to statistics, the most dangerous transport for life is road transport, 60% of Muscovites are afraid of the subway, especially escalators and crossings. According to experts, the very fact of descent is associated with increased danger, which is reinforced by the lack of air and the crush of irritated people violating each other’s personal space. By the way, the fear of the subway is associated not so much with unrest as with a long stay underground, usually from 40 minutes to an hour.

Workers

Against the backdrop of social cataclysms - the economic crisis and staff reductions - the most common is the fear of losing a job. Experts consider this a completely normal phenomenon, and moreover, theoretically - just theoretically! - the situation may become a reality. Therefore, a person tries it on himself and the more he thinks about it, discusses it with family and friends, the more real this image becomes in his mind. And then a focus of excitation is formed, and the next mention of contraction causes the appearance of obsessive pathological fear.

Stress, busy schedules and responsible work exhaust the psyche, opening up access to ergophobia - the fear of not being able to cope with one's work, Hellenophobia - not understanding scientific terms, kairophobia - the fear of new situations, Internetophobia - the fear of going online.

Urban

A popular source of fear for metropolitan residents is the likelihood of contracting an infection - molismophobia (especially in the midst of a pandemic).

According to doctors, this typical urban fear is due to the fact that everyone is forced to come into daily contact with many people from whom he potentially risks contracting something. This can happen not only on the street, in a store or on the subway, but also at a party.

Mass advertising of drugs, constantly reminding us of all kinds of infections and diseases transmitted in everyday life, also adds fuel to the fire. Phobias caused by the media are quite common.

Their manifestation is provoked not only by crime chronicles, but also by analytical programs about global warming, melting icebergs in Antarctica, and possible floods. By the way, large-scale climate change can lead to another one - weather phobia (this is one of the strangest phobias).

Causes of attacks

Panic attacks at night can occur once or develop into a cycle of attacks. The latter case refers to persistent panic disorders. The causes of the disease are due to three factors. As a rule, the causes of attacks are combined. Either one type of cause is dominant, while others aggravate and initiate repeated seizures.

Psychogenic factor

Nocturnal panic attacks are often triggered by previous acutely traumatic situations or psycho-emotional stress, such as:

• family scandals;
• divorce (traumatic for both spouses and children);
• conflicts at work;
• accident, illness or death of a loved one.

For impressionable people with a fine mental organization, watching television and feature films with scenes of horror, violence and other traumatic subjects can become psychogenic factors. The personality identification mechanism is triggered when a person puts himself in the shoes of characters in films or television shows.

Biological factor

Along with genetic predisposition, PA (panic attacks) often occur against the background of hormonal changes in the body, namely:

• time of pregnancy and childbirth;
• menopause;
• postpartum depression;
• disruptions in the menstrual cycle;
• puberty in adolescents;
• taking hormonal drugs.

Of course, these normal physiological processes occur without consequences in most people, but in some cases they act as an additional circumstance in the manifestation of the disease.

Physiogenic factors

In the latter case, a panic attack in a dream and in reality can be caused by pathological changes in the body under the influence of internal and external causes. The role of physiological factors is:

• acute alcohol poisoning;
• taking drugs;
• acclimatization;
• excessive sun exposure;
• hectic pace of life in big cities;
• taking a number of medications, especially anabolic steroids and steroids.

The occurrence of panic attacks is directly related to a person’s personal qualities. Persons with increased suspiciousness, anxiety, a negative perception of reality, and excessive concern for their health and well-being are frequent targets for panic attacks.

Another contingent capable of being subjected to panic attacks is, on the contrary, people with high self-esteem, ready to shock and attract attention to themselves in any way.

Altruists, people with positive thinking and a kind attitude towards others, ready to help others, are free from manifestations of neurotic and mental disorders.

Treatment of phobias

Seeing a mental health professional is the first step. A psychiatrist or psychologist may recommend cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), medications, or a combination of both. Some experts offer methods of self-hypnosis, acupuncture, breathing exercises, auto-training (all of them have no proven effectiveness).

Other popular methods are pumping, counteracting and modeling

• Intensification involves full exposure to the phobia until the anxiety goes away.
• Opposition gradually exposes a person to phobia.
• Modeling is a passive treatment that involves watching others confront the phobia without harming themselves.

"Intensive therapy" course

With the help of imagination, the severity of pathological fear is reduced and a habit of the real or theoretical presence of the object of phobia in life is developed.
Then “practice” begins - a person tries to encounter this very object. If this is metrophobia, you will have to gradually immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the subway: first go into the lobby, stand there for a while and get out, the next day try to ride the escalator. Once you’ve adapted, you can take your first train trip, but it’s better accompanied by a loved one.

How to prevent a panic attack at night?

In order to prevent a panic attack before going to bed, you need to follow these recommendations:

1. Before going to bed, take warm baths with the addition of sea salt or pine extract.
2. Steam your feet in hot water, adding a few drops of lavender aromatic oil.
3. Do not drink alcohol-containing drinks before bed.
4. Eliminate drinks that contain caffeine from your diet.
5. Before going to bed, drink a little warm milk with 1 tsp. honey
6. Drink in the evening a decoction made from lavender, mint or linden flowers.

It is necessary to avoid stress, lead a healthy lifestyle and take short walks in the evening before bed. Light exercise won't hurt either. It is not recommended to watch horror films or any other heavy movies at night. 1 hour before going to bed, you need to stop using your smartphone, tablet, etc., you can read a book.