Causes of Panic Attacks. in other casesThe short and obvious answer:high anxiety which is a state of apprehension or fear for instance the anticipation of a real or imagined threat however one of the biggest myths surrounding anxiety is that it is harmful and can lead to life-threatening conditions. of course when these sensations occur they feel they have contracted an illness, or a serious mental condition furthermore it is a mechanism that protects but does not harm no really it comes in handy when you must respond to a real threat within a split second well there has never been a reported incident of someone dying from a panic attack butyour mind may make the sensations continue longer than the body intended, but eventually everything will return to a state of balance however our body is continually striving for balance homeostasis for instance a panic attack is associated with an increase in the speed and depth of breathing and anxiety grows from the fear that your breathing itself would cease and you would be unable to recover”panic attack”:panic