Nearly one-third of Americans, or more than one hundred million people living in the United States, has suffered from a panic attack sometime or other during their life. There are many reasons why this may be so, researchers are still trying to determine answers to this question, but among people who are frequent sufferers, there appears to be several common factors.

Most of those who are frequent sufferers have jobs that are either very physically and/or mentally challenging, leading to a great deal of stress. When stress levels are at extreme highs, and one does not have the ability to simply pull away from the situation and relax, the body often times goes into overdrive, a condition that, if occurring to often, can lead an individual to overheat, much like a car would do. In an individual, however, this overheating takes its form in a panic attack. The heart will being to race, palms will grow sweaty, and a general feeling of gloom will preside, forcing the individual to step back from whatever he or she was doing, take a breather, and relax. For this reason, it is also essential that a highly stressed individual at times take some time out. Without any time out, there is never any down time and, just the opposite, a person is continually on the go, which can have harmful side effects and could potentially trigger a panic attack.

Aside from these occupations, there are also several personality traits that doctors believe can contribute to a person experiencing a panic attack. People who are exceedingly analytical, are obsessive, emotionally sensitive, or need to be in control at all times are also more very likely to experience a panic attack than their counterparts who are not like this. The primary reason people with these personality traits are more likely to experience a panic attack is because these people are in all likelihood to focus all of their attention on a single issue; and when this issue is no longer under their control, they are in all likelihood to freak out, thereby resulting in a panic attack. There is, in other words, either an obsessive or compulsive aspect to all of these personality traits and it is these qualities that are most likely to trigger a panic attack. Although it may be hard to alter one's personality, there are a number of preventative ways to do so, whether they are natural or proscribed by a doctor.

Those with irrational phobias, such as fear of heights, spiders, or other mundane aspects of life, moreover, are also more inclined to panic attacks. Someone who is overly afraid of spiders, for example, may tremble, sweat, and have trouble breathing whenever he or she sees a spider, which, as is well known, are all too common. These phobias stem from some negative previous encounter with the object of fear and, as a result, are usually difficult to overcome unless one seeks some sort of medical treatment, like seeing a psychologist. Without the help of some medical profession, the chances one will be able to overcome a phobia, and thereby curtail panic attacks, is very slim.