Smoking And Panic Disorder Essay, Research Paper

Healthcentral.com printed an article citing smoking as a cause of panic attacks.

In this article, Reuters Health states that daily smokers are more likely than

nonsmokers to experience a panic attack for the first time. Panic attacks may

include all or some of the following symptoms: shortness of breath, dizziness,

rapid heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and chest pain. Quitting smoking appears to

somewhat reduce the risk of panic attacks. Each year, one third of adults have

at least one panic attack. In addition, smoking has also been linked to

depression, which can definitely cause a person to become easily frustrated and

overwhelmed, possibly causing these unfortunate panic attacks to occur. The

first survey was taken of 1,007 people aged 21-30 who are members of a Michigan

HMO group. The other survey took a national sample of 4,411 people aged 15-54

years old. In both groups, daily smokers were much more likely to have

experienced a first occurrence of a panic attack. In the HMO group, daily

smokers had three times the risk of nonsmokers of having panic attacks. In the

national sample, smokers? risk of the attacks was twice that of nonsmokers.

Additionally, quitting smoking lowered the risk of panic attacks. The article

states that the original experiment does not explain how smoking might lead to

panic attacks, but smoking?s effect on the lungs might be to blame. There are

other explanations for the relationship. Smokers who develop respiratory

problems, even mild ones, which affect breathing might get a false sensation

that they are suffocating. This might lead to a panic attack. Additionally, the

effect of nicotine on the brain may also provide an explanation for these

findings.