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When we are frightened adrenaline is released into our blood ready for a 'fight or flight' response, this speeds up our heart and can feel like there is something wrong with us, this then makes us anxious which releases more adrenaline that speeds up our heart and becomes a vicious circle, which then becomes a panic attack.
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear. Luke 1:74 NIV
Anxiety is produced by the sympathetic nervous system which in turn stimulates the adrenal gland. It is closely related to other emotions such as excitement and anger, in fact, often only the difference between these emotions is what the brain interprets the physical sensations to be. If you consider the main difference between anxiety and excitement is the situation in which they occur. Acute anxiety is triggered by the brain interpreting a situation to be threatening to the beings welfare. Independent of our 20th century self, our body switches into overdrive, the heart is stimulated and speeds up blood circulation to the muscles so that they tense up. The lungs increase air intake and breathing speeds up. Adrenalin is released into the blood which increases the metabolism and helps speed up reactions. Glucose is released for energy. The body is prepared for action.
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25"Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples. In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him." Luke 8:25 NIV
Basically we learn to be anxious when there maybe no real threat to our being, by misinterpreting events as stressful when they are not. The body has no way of learning if a stressful situation is real or imagined, unless the brain tells it. When a person begins to get anxious often he tends to start thinking negatively, and this negative pattern creates the environment for frequent anxiety. Negative thoughts turn safe situations into stressful situations and thus increase anxiety attacks (Panic attacks)
As a Christian we are able to turn to Jesus in a panic situation, to pray and lean on him for help. Some people turn on God TV or Christian radio when they are anxious and find comfort in listening to Christian teaching or Christian music.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is life not more important than food and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life.
Matthew 6:25-27 NIV
A simple prayer:
Dear Jesus, I thank you and put my trust in you, you are always at my side even when I am having a panic attack; I know that you will never let me down, forgive me for the times that I have disappointed you, guide me and teach me, fill me with your power, I pray for healing and peace in the love and assurance that you died and rose again for me, amen
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