Panic is the primal urge to run and hide in the face of imminent danger. It is a sudden fear which dominates or replaces thinking and often affects groups of people or animals. Panics typically occur in disaster situations, or violent situations (such as robbery, home invasion, a shooting rampage, etc.) which may endanger the overall health of the affected group. The word panic derives from the name of the Greek god Pan, who is said to have the ability to cause fear of lonely or open places. Fear is a powerful biological feeling of unpleasant risk or danger, either real or imagined. ... Home invasion is the crime of entering a private and occupied dwelling, with the intent of committing a crime and often while threatening the resident. ... Look up deity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Pan (Greek , genitive ) is the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music: paein means to pasture. ...

Prehistoric man used mass panic as a technique when hunting animals, especially ruminants. Herds reacting to unusually strong sounds or unfamiliar visual effects were directed towards cliffs, where they eventually jumped to their deaths when cornered.^{[citation needed]} // For the history of humans on Earth, see History of the world. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A herd of Wildebeest A gaggle of Canada geese For other uses, see Herd (disambiguation). ... “Precipice” redirects here. ...

Humans are also vulnerable to panic and it is often considered infectious, in the sense one person's panic may easily spread to other people nearby and soon the entire group acts irrationally, but people also have the ability to prevent and/or control their own and other's panic by disciplined thinking or training (such as disaster drills). Architects and city planners try to accommodate the symptoms of panic, such as herd behavior, during design and planning, often using simulations to determine the best way to lead people to a safe exit and prevent congestion (stampedes). The most effective methods are often nonintuitive. A tall column, approximately 1 ft in diameter, placed in front of the door exit at a precisely calculated distance, may speed up the evacuation of a large room by up to 30%, as the obstacle divides the congestion well ahead of the choke point.^{[citation needed]} Irrationality is talking or acting without regard of rationality. ... An architect at his drawing board, 1893 An architect is a person who is involved in the planning, designing and oversight of a buildings construction. ... Urban, city, or town planning, deals with design of the built environment from the municipal and metropolitan perspective. ... The term symptom (from the Greek meaning chance, mishap or casualty, itself derived from συμπιπτω meaning to fall upon or to happen to) has two similar meanings in the context of physical and mental health: Strictly, a symptom is a sensation or change in health function experienced by a patient. ... It has been suggested that Herding instinct be merged into this article or section. ... All Saints Chapel in the Cathedral Basilica of St. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Look up simulation in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A stampede is an act of mass impulse among herd animals or a crowd of people in which the herd (or crowd) collectively begins running with no clear direction or purpose. ...

In sociology, precipitate and irrational actions of a group are often referred to as panics, as for example "sex panic", "stock market panic". (See hysteria.) Panic is usually understood to mean active, but senseless behaviour (e.g. trying to flee in a random direction or suddenly attacking others without consideration), while hysteria often carries a more passive notion (as in crying uncontrollably). An influential theoretical treatment of panic by a sociologist is found in Neil J. Smelser's, Theory of Collective Behavior. This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Hysteria is a diagnostic label applied to a state of mind, one of unmanageable fear or emotional excesses. ... Neil J. Smelser was a University of California Berkeley sociologist who studied collective behavior. ...

The science of panic management has found important practical applications in the armed forces and emergency services of the world.

Many highly publicized cases of deadly panic occurred during massive public events.

The layout of Mecca was extensively redesigned by Saudi authorities in an attempt to eliminate frequent stampedes, which kill an average of 250 pilgrims every year. [1] This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... A stampede is an act of mass impulse among herd animals or a crowd of people in which the herd (or crowd) collectively begins running with no clear direction or purpose. ... Monument to pilgrims in Burgos, Spain This article is on religious pilgrims. ...

Football stadiums have seen deadly crowd rushes and stampedes, such as at Hillsborough stadium in Sheffield, England, in 1989. This led to controlled entry gates and stricter rules by the end of the 1980s to regulate seating arrangements. The Memorial at Hillsborough. ... Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. ...

Etymology

"Panic" comes from Greek panikon, "pertaining to Pan." Pan is the god of woods and fields who was the source of mysterious sounds that caused contagious, groundless fear in herds and crowds, or in people in lonely spots. Pan (Greek , genitive ) is the Greek god of shepherds and flocks, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music: paein means to pasture. ...

Panic and the law

Most jurisdictions limit the freedom of speech in order to deter people from creating potentially dangerous panic situations, especially a false alarm (the classic example is shouting "Fire!" in a crowded theatre when in fact nothing is burning). Freedom of speech is the concept of being able to speak freely without censorship. ...

Some criminal defendants attempt to evade or reduce the severity of their conviction by claiming their violence was induced by a sense of panic. Certain jurisdiction may limit punishment in case one's actions for self-defense were excessively powerful because of panic reaction. Criminal law (also known as penal law) is the body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Self defense refers to actions taken by a person to defend onself, ones property or ones home. ...

Panic experienced by air travellers during the last minutes of their lives aboard crashing commercial flights has been the basis of several multi-million dollar lawsuits brought against airlines, based on the legal concept of emotional suffering^{[citation needed]}. It has been suggested that civil trial be merged into this article or section. ... An Airbus A380 of Emirates Airline An airline provides air transport services for passengers or freight. ... Suffering is any aversive (not necessarily unwanted) experience and the corresponding negative emotion. ...

See also

• Anxiety
• Fight-or-flight response
• Angst
• Collective behavior
• Emotion
• Fear
• Hysteria
• List of recessions
• Panic attack
• Panic disorder
• Panic sequence
• Penis panic

This article includes a list of works cited or a list of external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks in-text citations. ... The fight-or-flight response, also called the acute stress response, was first described by Walter Cannon in 1929. ... The Scream (1893) by Edvard Munch. ... The term collective behavior was first used by Robert E. Park, and employed definitively by Herbert Blumer, to refer to social processes and events which do not reflect existing social structure (laws, conventions, and institutions), but which emerge in a spontaneous way. ... Emotional redirects here. ... Fear is a powerful biological feeling of unpleasant risk or danger, either real or imagined. ... Hysteria is a diagnostic label applied to a state of mind, one of unmanageable fear or emotional excesses. ... This is a list of notable recessions, depressions and downturns. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Panic disorder is a diagnosed psychiatric mental condition that causes the sufferer to experience sporadic, intense, and often reoccurring panic attacks. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

External links

Look up panic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Panic! How it works and What To Do About It — by Bruce Tognazzini.
• Panic: Myth or Reality? — Professor Lee Clarke, Contexts Magazine.
• Bruce Schneier on the Myth of Panic
• Human Thinking in terms of processing layers — by Roger Bourke White Jr..