The link between panic attacks, social anxiety and separation anxiety
The vlog version of this blog post.
"Life-or-death" is a common theme behind panic attacks. Most often, panic attacks happen when a person perceives their life or the lives of people they deeply care about to be in danger. People may fear imminent death via heart attack, suffocation, losing control of their mind and body, or some other form of non-existence. However, socially-oriented fears are also common drivers of panic. For example, sometimes fearing embarrassment and the resulting loss of social status can trigger panic attacks (e.g., A high-powered CEO with panic attacks). Social issues can trigger panic because, evolutionarily speaking, a lack of social belonging can dramatically decrease the animal's ability to survive.
Social loss is an existential threat.
What's fascinating about panic is that it illuminates how wired we are to exist within groups. We want to be included and respected by others. Whenever something opposite of that happens, we freak out. We can also see this social-and-panic link by observing how often diagnoses related to social loss present with panic attacks. Social anxiety disorder and separation anxiety disorder both commonly set off panic attacks.
Social loss is an existential threat because humans are pack animals. Those who hang out on the outskirts of the herd are most likely to get picked off by predators. The fate is even worse for those who get excommunicated from the pack entirely. Most of us are aware of this instinctually: We fear abandonment and cringe at our social faux pas. These reactions prioritize our behavior to ensure that we remain inside the herd, where we are nice and safe.
Social anxiety disorder is a risk factor for panic attacks.
What would happen if we had little confidence in our ability to interact with others? What would happen if we questioned every little thing we said? In that scenario, every interpersonal interaction and faux pa represents us getting pushed further out from the center of society and onto the outskirts, where it is most dangerous. Therefore, the fears that drive social anxiety are very similar to those that fuel panic: They are both existential. They are both experienced as life and death matter.
Separation anxiety disorder is a risk factor for panic attacks.
Similarly, it is now easy to understand why separation anxiety disorder is also a risk factor for panic attacks. Separation anxiety is a fear that occurs when we face the possibility of losing someone we hold dear. As I mentioned earlier, a social loss, unless readily replaced, is a sign of approaching danger and, therefore, can elicit panic-like responses.
If social anxiety, separation anxiety, or panic is a problem for you, then don't hestitate to book a free consultation.
