A recent Yahoo article said that having a panic attack after a cup of coffee does not mean there is a problem. It's true that caffeine revs us up. It's true that caffeine can trigger panic. But triggers are not the cause of panic. The cause of panic is failure of the parasympathetic nervous system to do its job.
Look at the names of the systems that regulate how revved up we get: the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. The sympathetic system gets its name because it operates “in sympathy” with an increase in stress hormones to increase heart rate, breathing rate, and tension.
The parasympathetic system has the prefix “para” which means against. When the sympathetic starts revving us up, the parasympathetic is supposed to start pushing back against the sympathetic to keep it from revving us up too much.
Many things - not just coffee - rev us up. It makes no sense to to isolate ourselves from all the things that could stress us. The smart thing to do is teach the parasympathetic to push back and keep us from going off the rails when something triggers the amygdala to release stress hormones.
Think about your car. The sympathetic system is like the accelerator pedal. The brake pedal is like the parasympathetic system. If your car is going too fast, the brakes - IF APPLIED - will slow it down. The problem a great many of us have is we haven't learned how to use the brake pedal.
Yahoo News put out an article on Monday about a young woman who shared a photo of herself on Instagram having a panic attack which she says was caused by "one cup of coffee on an empty stomach."
Her post read, “Anxiety Attack Time. This morning I had one cup of coffee on an empty stomach which turned into an anxiety attack! I am currently writing this from the bathroom floor. I usually sit here like this or lay in fetal position until I can’t cry or throw up anymore. Coffee is a major esophageal irritator and reflux trigger for me which leads to anxiety. If you are an anxiety sufferer like myself, coffee isn’t your friend! You’re probably asking why I drank it in the first place? Well, that’s because I’m a silly goose. Writing this and being open with y’all about my struggles helps it pass. If coffee makes you shit your pants and makes you experience this, please share.”
Coffee should not cause panic. Even an emergency should not cause panic. If there is any time we need to not panic, it is in an emergency. If we panic in an emergency, how can we save ourselves?
If coffee, an emergency, or anything in between causes you to panic, your parasympathetic nervous system needs a boost. Yet the Yahoo article quotes a psychologist saying caffeine is the problem — and that panic triggered by caffeine is not a sign of a serious condition.
That is incorrect. If caffeine triggers a panic attack, clearly the person lacks the psychological processes needed to cause a parasympathetic response to keep the sympathetic system from taking over.
Stress hormones are released for many reasons. Some releases take place when there is danger. Some releases take place when we are safe. When stress hormones cause a false alarm, we don't need to go running like a chicken with its head cut off. We need to use our head. But we can't use it effectively unless the parasympathetic system keeps the sympathetic in check.
There are occasional emergencies. When a feeling of alarm is caused by danger, we need to think clearly enough to figures out what to do. In an emergency, it is crucial that the parasympathetic kick in and calm us enough for us to identify what the amygdala is reacting to.
If the release of stress hormones is due to a real threat, we need to find what is going on rather than fear what is going on. If we fear what is going on, we are only imagining what is going on. We have little or no chance of figuring out what to do.
We need the parasympathetic to kick in when stress hormones are released and limit how revved up we get. If a cup of coffee causes us to go off the deep end, don't blame the coffee.