Trauma
When we have had a traumatic event happen in our lives, it changes the path our neurons fire in our brain. Things may not have seemed traumatic because a lot of times when you grow up in it, it seems normal. By the time we are 3 years old we have a thousand trillion synapses in our brains. The ones that aren't used are pruned. Before a huge stressor or traumatic event our stress level may go up to a 1 or a 2. After a huge stressor our level of stress can go straight to a 10 every time or when triggered. Whatever the original stressor was you may have felt like you were going to die or subconsciously thought you would die. Not getting affection can also subconsciously make you feel like you are going to die. There are babies in Russia where 12 are assigned to one caregiver, and some babies die because there is no way that caregiver can have the time to give enough affection to all of them. I know this may sound silly, but all who have used it say it can help. If you are in a crisis situation, repeat this to yourself: Your name you’re not going to die, Your name you’re going to be okay, You’ve been through worse and you’re alright. Until you feel that “fight or flight response” calm down.