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Panic attack

Also called: panic episode, anxiety attack

A sudden surge of intense fear with strong physical symptoms, peaking in about ten minutes and passing on its own — though while it lasts it feels like it never will.

A panic attack is a sudden discharge of the body's alarm system in the absence of real danger. The heart runs at 140-160, breathing turns shallow, and there is sweating, trembling, dizziness, tingling in the hands, a sense of suffocating or of a weight on the chest.

What frightens most is not the sensations themselves but their interpretation: “I'm having a heart attack”, “I'm going mad”, “I'm dying”. That interpretation adds fuel — fear of the symptoms intensifies the symptoms. This loop is why an attack sustains itself for a few minutes.

Physiologically, a panic attack cannot stay at peak intensity. Adrenaline is metabolised within minutes and the body has no way to remain there. The peak usually arrives at 5-10 minutes; the rest is the long tail of a nervous system settling.

Panic is not dangerous in itself. It is deeply unpleasant, but it does not cause heart attacks, does not cause madness, and does not lead to fainting — blood pressure rises during an attack, whereas fainting requires it to fall.

What it is confused with

With a heart attack. The first time, the distinction cannot be made at home and should not be attempted — go to A&E. Later, once a cardiologist has ruled it out, the pattern becomes recognisable: panic comes with intense fear and passes in minutes, cardiac pain tends to radiate and worsens with exertion.

With generalised anxiety. Anxiety is a continuous background of worry; panic is a sudden spike. They can overlap, but they are different things and respond to different approaches.

With panic disorder. A single attack is not a disorder — many people have exactly one, during a very stressful period, and never another. The disorder means repeated attacks plus persistent fear of the next one.

Related terms

HypervigilanceCatastrophisingSomatisation

Methods that work with this

Cognitive behavioural therapy

These definitions are informational. They do not replace an assessment by a professional and are not enough for self-diagnosis.

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