Panic attacks

What is a panic attack

A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear, accompanied by strong physical reactions: a racing heart, difficulty breathing, sweating, trembling. It usually appears without a visible cause and reaches its peak intensity within 5–10 minutes.

Many people have one or two panic attacks in their life, especially during periods of acute stress, without having a mental disorder. When panic attacks recur or start to affect everyday life, we speak of panic disorder.

What a panic attack feels like

The attack comes without warning. One moment you are in the car, at the office, in bed or out shopping, and the next your body reacts as if it were in mortal danger.

In the body:

• your heart beats extremely hard, and you feel it in your throat and ears
• your breathing becomes short and shallow, as if the air could no longer reach your lungs
• your chest feels tight
• your hands tremble or go numb
• waves of heat or cold, followed by a cold sweat
• a sensation of a knot in your stomach, of nausea or of fainting

In your mind:

• thoughts that give you no peace: “I’m dying”, “I’m having a heart attack”, “I’m going mad”, “I’ve lost control”
• the feeling that you no longer recognise your surroundings or your own body
• the impression that you are seeing everything “from the outside”, as if you were cut off from reality
• sounds and lights seem too intense

The fear of fear

After a panic attack, many people are left with a lingering fear that it might happen again. This “fear of fear” is often more limiting than the attacks themselves.

You start avoiding the places or situations associated with the previous episode: the metro, conferences, long car journeys. Over time, life shrinks around what you feel is “safe”.

When to see a specialist

A psychiatric assessment is worthwhile if:

• the attacks keep coming back, you constantly fear another one, or you have started avoiding places because of this fear (signs of panic disorder)
• the attacks wake you up at night
• you want to find out whether what you feel has a psychological or a medical cause

The last point matters: the symptoms of a panic attack can resemble those of heart or thyroid conditions.

Important: if you have chest pain for the first time, or you aren’t sure what is happening, call 112.

With the right help, you can learn to get through attacks more easily, and the fear of them can fade.

The first step

If you recognise yourself in what you’ve read, book a conversation with one of our specialists. Together, we’ll look at what’s going on and what your options are.

Services: Psychiatry · Psychotherapy · Counselling
See our team and pricing.

This information is for educational purposes and does not replace a specialist consultation.