People who experience anxiety attacks assume they are beyond their control

Dependency and Independence

One of the personality traits associated with anxiety attacks is dependency, perhaps originating from that hypothesized fear of separation from the mother figure. Anyone who is dependent will feel particularly vulnerable when they are stressed. They will want or expect someone else to take control, feeling inadequate to do so themselves. If it is true that people who panic tend to have feelings of dependency, then it would make sense why stressful situations lead more easily to panic attacks in them than in other people.

Researcher into studies of field-dependence – i.e. depending on things outside of yourself to too great an extent – also suggests that these feelings of inadequacy and lack of personal control can lead to many problems as well as anxiety attack symptoms, including alcoholism. Interestingly, alcohol abuse has also been associated with those people who have panic attacks.