Suddenly Suffocating and Feeling Like You Might Die? What Donguibogam Says About Panic Attacks

While Donguibogam explained fear through turmoil in the heart, modern medicine understands a panic attack as an emergency state occurring inside the brain. The small brain region playing a central role is the amygdala. The amygdala senses threats and regulates fear responses. In people who experience panic attacks, however, this amygdala becomes excessively sensitive and sounds an alarm even when no actual threat exists. Much like a malfunctioning fire alarm, it activates the fight-or-flight response even though the body faces no real danger. Once this response begins, the sympathetic nervous system sharply surges. Heart rate accelerates, blood pressure rises, breathing quickens, and muscles tense. In the distant past, these were necessary survival responses when humans had to fight or flee from predators. In modern society, however, when this reaction is triggered without a real threat, it causes severe discomfort and fear. In addition, the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which releases the stress hormone cortisol, also plays an important part. Chronic stress weakens the regulatory function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, causing an excessive stress response even to minor stimuli. On top of this, imbalances in neurotransmitters such as serotonin and norepinephrine are known to influence panic attacks as well. Through the combined action of all these neurological and endocrinological processes, a panic attack is triggered, bringing sudden palpitations, suffocation, and an intense fear of impending death. This is not simply a matter of being timid, but rather a temporary malfunction of the body's emergency system, making it important to seek professional help.