A panic attack feels like the start of something terrible. It is, in fact, the end of something: a surge of adrenaline that peaks within ten minutes and then has nowhere to go.
Why it feels so dangerous
Your heart races, your chest tightens, your hands tingle. The body is preparing to run from a threat it cannot find, so the mind supplies one: a heart attack, fainting, losing control. None of these happen, but the fear of the next attack can start to shape where you go.
“The attack passes on its own. The work is in what you stop doing because of it.”
Try this tonight
- Breathe out for longer than you breathe in; count four in, six out.
- Name five things you can see, out loud if you can.
- Stay where you are if it is safe. Leaving teaches the brain that the place was the danger.
If attacks come often, or you have started avoiding places, CBT helps most people within eight to twelve sessions.
Written byMira Petrova
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Psychotherapist · EMDR and EFT for couples · 15 years in practice · Utrecht