The Chemistry of a Panic Attack

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Most Aspies and High Functioning Autistics experience significantly more stress than the Average NT. So much so, that it should probably be our middle name. Stress if it is not vented can accumulate within the body and produce distress. One form of distress is a panic attack.

There are two ways to treat panic attacks. These are a psychological approach or a physiological approach.

The psychological approach, sometimes called talk therapy generally attempts to uncover the root cause of the trauma and often leads to the prescription drug route to normalize behavior.

The physiological approach is a completely different approach. It looks at the problem from a chemistry approach. Stress instead of viewed from an emotional level is viewed from chemistry, animal behavior and how the brain operates.

So to begin a discussion of the physiological approach, let me describe a young boy in a war torn country. Bombs are dropping above him. He and his family are hiding in the basement. He is huddled in the corner. He is curled up in a fetal position and shaking violently. This is a natural reaction for most children. By shaking uncontrollably he is venting stress energy from his body core.

alexagirard98 a member of this site, provides another example. She experiences many panic attacks. She is about to meet one of her favorite teachers. Someone she hasn't seen in a very long time. Just the thought of seeing this teacher again produces great stress. When she finally reaches the porch and greets the teacher, she experiences a panic attack. Her whole body begins to shiver. The shiver releases the stress energy from her body core and after a minute or two, she is able to enter the home and enjoy the visit.



This trembling is called a “neurogenic tremors”. In humans we are taught at an early age to control and inhibit this natural trembling response. As a result this core stress is allowed to build up and affect our bodies.

There is a form of exercise called “TRE - Trauma Releasing Exercises” that teaches individuals to generate “neurogenic tremors” to vent stored stress energy locked in the core. David Berceli has developed and detailed this method in the book "The Revolutionary Trauma Release Process".

The following YouTube video provides a glimpse of this process.



The human brain consists of many components, which are layered like an onion. There is the core, which is similar to the brain of an infant. It resides in the Vagus Nerve and Dorsal Vagal systems and is responsible for “Immobilization” or “Freeze” response. There is the middle layer within the Sympathetic Nervous system that controls the “fight or flight response”. And there is the outer layer, within the Myelinated Ventral Vagal system, the social brain.

Stress is also part of the middle layer, the fight or flight response. This stress energy is also stored in the body, in the limbs (the arms, legs and neck). Again exercise is the key to venting this stored chemical stress energy. But it is a very specific form of exercise called Maximal or Supramaximal exercise.

If these stress chemicals are properly vented from the body, the body will reach a state of homeostasis and the effects of reduced stress loads IMHO will make panic attacks less frequent and less intense.