Panic
Panic is a sudden sensation of fear that is so strong it can dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking. Instead, it replaces rational thought with overwhelming feelings of anxiety, uncertainty, and frantic agitation, which are consistent with a fight-or-flight reaction. Panic may occur individually or suddenly manifest in large groups as mass panic, a phenomenon closely related to herd behavior.
Etymology
The word "panic" derives from antiquity and honors the ancient god Pan. One of many gods in ancient Greek mythology, Pan oversaw shepherds, woods, and pastures. The Greeks believed he often wandered peacefully through the woods, playing a pipe. However, if accidentally awakened from his noontime nap, he could give a great shout that would cause flocks to stampede. From this aspect of Pan's nature, Greek authors derived the word panikos, "sudden fear, " the ultimate source of the English word: "panic. " The Greek term indicates a feeling of total fear that is sudden and often attributed to the presence of a god.
Psychology
The fight-or-flight response, also known by other names, is a physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival. Animals respond to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, preparing them for fighting or fleeing. The adrenal medulla triggers a hormonal cascade that leads to the secretion of catecholamines, particularly norepinephrine and epinephrine. Hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol, along with neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, also influence how organisms respond to stress. Additionally, the hormone osteocalcin may play a role.
General adaptation syndrome regulates stress responses among vertebrates and other organisms and involves the fight-or-flight response as its first stage.
A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain, shaking, shortness of breath, numbness, or a feeling of impending doom or loss of control. Typically, symptoms peak within ten minutes of onset and last for approximately 30 minutes, although the duration can vary from seconds to hours. Though distressing, panic attacks are not physically dangerous. They can be triggered or occur unexpectedly.
In psychology, there is a condition known as panic disorder, which is described as a specific psychological vulnerability of individuals to interpret normal physical sensations in a catastrophic manner. It is strongly related to biological and psychological factors and their interactions. Leonard J. Schmidt and Brooke Warner describe panic as "that terrible, profound emotion that stretches us beyond our ability to imagine any experience more horrible," adding that "physicians like to compare painful clinical conditions on some imagined 'Richter scale' of vicious, mean hurt … to the psychiatrist there is no more vicious, mean hurt than an exploding and personally disintegrating panic attack."
Panic attacks can arise from several other disorders, including social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, substance use disorder, depression, and various medical issues.
In social psychology, panic is regarded as infectious since it can disseminate among many individuals, causing those impacted to behave irrationally. Psychologists categorize this panic phenomenon into several types, each with slightly different definitions, such as mass panic, mass hysteria, mass psychosis, and social contagion.
An influential theoretical treatment of panic is found in Neil J. Smelser's Theory of Collective Behavior. The science of panic management has found important practical applications in the armed forces and emergency services worldwide.
Effects
Prehistoric humans employed mass panic as a strategy for hunting animals, particularly ruminants. Herds responding to unusually loud sounds or unfamiliar visual stimuli were driven towards cliffs, where they ultimately jumped to their deaths when trapped.
Humans are also vulnerable to panic, which is often considered infectious; one person's panic may easily spread to others nearby, and soon the entire group may act irrationally. However, people also have the ability to prevent and control their own panic and that of others through disciplined thinking or training, such as disaster drills.
Architects and city planners strive to accommodate panic-related behaviors, such as herd behavior, during design and planning. They often use simulations to determine the best ways to guide people to a safe exit and prevent congestion or crowd crushes. The most effective methods are frequently non-intuitive. A tall column or columns, positioned in front of the door exit at a precisely calculated distance, may expedite the evacuation of a large room, as they divide the congestion well ahead of the choke point.
Many highly publicized cases of deadly panic have occurred during massive public events. The layout of Mecca was extensively redesigned by Saudi authorities in an attempt to eliminate frequent crushes, which kill an average of 250 pilgrims each year. Football stadiums have witnessed deadly crowd rushes and stampedes, such as at Heysel Stadium in Belgium in 1985, which resulted in over 600 casualties, including 39 deaths; at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, England, in 1989, when 96 people were killed in a crush; and at Kanjuruhan Stadium in Indonesia in 2022, when 135 people were killed in a crush.
See also
See also [ Plutchik's Wheel of Emotions ]
External links
- More information is available at [ Wikipedia:Panic ]
Chat rooms • What links here • Copyright info • Contact information • Category:Root