Page "Panic attack" Paragraph 2

Sufferers of panic attacks often report a fear or sense of dying, " going crazy ," or experiencing a heart attack or " flashing vision ," feeling faint or nauseated, a numb sensation throughout the body, heavy breathing ( and almost always, hyperventilation ), or losing control of themselves.

Some people also suffer from tunnel vision, mostly due to blood flow leaving the head to more critical parts of the body in defense.

These feelings may provoke a strong urge to escape or flee the place where the attack began ( a consequence of the sympathetic " fight-or-flight response ") in which the hormone which causes this response is released in significant amounts.

This response floods the body with hormones, particularly epinephrine ( adrenaline ), that aid it in defending against harm.