By Jurriaan Plesman BA(Psych), Post Grad Dip Clin Nutr
The mystery of having these strange anxiety attacks coming from nowhere can be explained by a sudden secretion of adrenaline into the blood stream.
Adrenaline is a hormone that converts glycogen (stored glucose (sugar)) back into glucose in order to feed the brain. When your body is suddenly deprived of glucose, causing brain starvation, adrenaline kicks in to bring these levels up again as soon as possible. (See image) This often happens to people who suffer from unstable blood sugar levels, called hypoglycemia. SeeGary Null.
This condition can be tested by a special medical test for hypoglycemia as explained here. You can also test yourself with a paper-and-pencil test called The Nutrition-Behavior Inventory Questionnaire (NBI) or The Hypo Quizz
Thus the question is why these unstable blood sugar levels?
When we suffer from insulin resistanceit means that the body’s cells do not respond properly to insulin that functions to control blood sugar levels. Insulin transports nutrients (including glucose) across cell membranes. With insulin resistance blood sugar level rises with the result more insulin is pumped into the system. This is calledhyperinsulinism. With so much insulin we now have a crash in blood sugar levels to low levels, that the brain interprets as brain starvation.
Now the brain sends a message (hormone) to the adrenal gland to pour adrenaline into the system to raise blood sugar level quickly. This results in unstable blood sugar levels.See results of a GTT
It is excess adrenaline that is responsible for the sudden anxiety attacks coming from within the body. Thus anxiety is a fear response without an external object of fear also known as ‘floating anxiety’. Very often the mind invents an object by a process that psychologists call 'reverse conditioning’, whereby any random object in the environment is paired to a powerful emotional response. The environmental cue becomes the stimulus (the cause of) for the fear response. This can also be demonstrated if we inject a rat with adrenaline and it will develop a fear at any innocuous object in its cage. It might even bite you.
Thus if you have an anxiety attack and you happen to be in a lift, then the lift may become a trigger for anxiety at a subsequent event. This Reverse conditioning or the pairing of an external stimulus with a fear response may be seen as the mechanism by which a person develops a phobia. That stimulus then becomes the trigger for the fear response.
Since adrenaline forces you to focus on the “enemy”, it is also also responsible for excessive rumination, and compulsions, leading to Obsessive Compulsive Disorders (OCD).
When an anxiety reaction is paired with a recurrent idea which then functions as a stimulus to that response, this may become an obsessive idea. The idea that we may not have closed the doors properly may result in a compulsion to check the doors. Similarly, if the fear reaction is linked to a negative self-image, the latter may trigger stage fright (an anxiety response) as when we have to give a speech before a large audience.
One temporary remedy for an anxiety/panic attack is taking glycerine. This is converted slowly in the liver to biological energy via pyruvate and hence does not provoke excess insulin secretion causing a hypoglycemic dip. Take one tablespoon of glycerine and mix in a glass of water or other fluid, with a dash of lemonade to improve taste. Drink during or before an expected anxiety attack.
It prevents the production of excess stress hormones. It relaxes you when you have to give a public speech, face an exam or job interview. It is also an ideal remedy for insomnia.
Psychologists may help a patient to overcome this reaction by means of systematic desensitization whereby the patient first learns to relax by means of “relaxation therapy”, which is then paired by the gradual introduction of the object of a phobia. This is fully explained in Anxiety, Phobias and Gambling.
TREATMENT: Go on the hypoglycemic diet and do Psychotherapy! The hypoglycemic diet will stabilize blood sugar levels and insulin levels. The brain should be supplied with a steady supply of glucose and should not need to send panic (stress) hormones to the adrenal gland to get more glucose.
The psychotherapy will help to beak the link between between a negative self-image and fear response. It teaches the client to handle life stress situations in an more effective way.
Psychological stress causes stress hormones to interfere with the synthesis of serotonin, and hence a life with less stress allows the body to produce serotonin naturally.
If you are hypoglycemic, you are likely to deplete your magnesium levels, which in turn increases the lactate to pyruvate ratio, also found to be responsible for anxiety. Thus it may pay to increase your magnesium intake. Buist RA 1985 mentioned in Werbach 1991, 53
If you are on medication for anxiety, you cannot withdraw from drugs except with the help of your doctor. Receptors for neurotransmitter may have been damaged and takes a while to rebuild. The hypoglycemic diet helps you to withdraw gradually and comfortably from medication. It also helps to avoid any stress situation that can trigger the roller-coaster of stress hormones. Hence it is important to do a course of PSYCHOTHERAPY. This will help you to deal with inevitable stresses in one’s personal relationships, bosses, work situations etc. There are many other activities that will reduce stress, such as regular exercises, walking your dog, listening to classical music, do yoga, meditation, in fact any enjoyable activity that does not produce stress hormones.
Please discuss with your doctor for a plan to withdraw gradually from your medications whilst you are on the hypoglycemic diet and doing the self-help PSYCHOTHERAPY course.
