My heart seemed to pound even faster, even harder.
I tried taking a deep breath to calm myself, but my breaths were sharp and shallow.
Youre dying, a voice in my head said.
Alexey Dulin / EyeEm / Getty Images
This is what death feels like, and youre going to die alone.
And then, I slowly sank to the floor.
Some people mistake panic attacks for heart attacks, or believe that theyre dying.
Nastco
Have they learned any coping mechanisms?
Do they know their triggers?
Heres what nine of them had to say.
Frederick Bass
This led me to panicked Googling and the conviction or fear that I was having a heart attack.
I called 911 and an ambulance came to get me in the middle of the street.
My new therapist encouraged me to stop smoking so much weed and cut back on drinking.
Michael Mann
That, plus therapy and yoga, have made me feel much less anxious ever since."
Some last a few hours, and others happen daily for months.
Alone in the car, I had absolutely no idea what to do.
I collected my thoughts enough to pull over.
That set off panic attacks for a month.
I was only able to leave my apartment to go to work and that was it.
Eventually I went to a therapist to talk it out."
I wasn’t exactly sure what I even worried was about to happen, only that it was extreme.
The exhaustion the next day is also uncanny.
Your brain really makes your body pay for it.
I just remember kind of collapsing into his arms.
And then it takes a few days to recover.
I become convinced that someones going to jump out or corner me and attack me or rape me.
The other thought is just, Somethings wrong, somethings wrong, somethings wrong.
And then, Oh god, I cant stop, why isnt it stopping?
Why cant I breathe, whats going on?
My therapist has taught me to say to myself, This is not too much for me.
I have been through this before and its not too much for me.
It actually does help.
The other scariest part is that even once I realize its an anxiety attack, I cant stop it.
“Ive had panic attacks since I was 25 but they happen very rarely.
Ive gone years without them, but this month Ive had three.
They happen when I become overwhelmed or am dealing with grief of some sort.
Some attacks pass in 20 minutes, but todays feels like its never going to end.
Im hyperventilating, shaking, and overheating.
My thoughts are completely irrational worries mixed with self-doubt.
‘Impending doom’ is the best description I can come up with.”
Now, they come in waves and are sporadic.
It depends on my mental well-being, but lately Im having one or two a month.
When I have them, I can feel them coming on before anyone would even notice.
I also feel ‘vibrations’ in my body, like Im jumping out of my own skin.
During an attack, my mind starts to race.
I think about everything Ive done wrong in life, everything I need to accomplish.
That turns into trying to understand the world and how we live, and coming to peace with death.
At the end, it feels like all of my energy has been sucked out of me."
“I think I was 19 the first time I had one.
I had just moved very far away from my family and was overwhelmed, stressed, and homesick.
I was also in a toxic relationship.
Now I have them a few times a year, but it used to be every few months.
I have a lot of feelings when I have a panic attack.
It makes me cry uncontrollably and nothing anyone says could make it stop.
It just has to run its course.
Afterwards, it’s like my body is in shock.
I can’t stop shaking and feel so exhaustedlike all the life has been sucked out of my body.
Id been terrified my entire life of the possibility of cerebral hemorrhages.
All I kept thinking was ‘hey dont let me die’ as I took the elevator down.
The next day I was laid off.”
Sometimes even thethoughtof having another panic attack can make your heart beat faster.
But knowing that help exists and that you’re not alone should make it a little easier.
Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
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