scintillating scotoma causes
Panic not a cause: Scintillating scotomas are most commonly caused by cortical spreading depression, a pattern of changes in the behavior of nerves in the brain during a migraine. Panic is not on the list of causes on any source i found. The first sentence is from the wikipedia article on scintillating scotomata.
The following can be triggers to a migraine attack and thus can be triggers for the scintillating scotoma or scotomata. 1  Alcohol. 2  Stress. 3  Anxiety. 4  Chemicals such as perfumes.  Smoking or second-hand 1  smoke. Bright lights.  Caffeine 1  withdrawal. Hormonal changes as in the monthly menstrual cycle, or oral contraceptive  usage.