I suppose my own experience differs from the symptoms of a chronic sufferer, but I used to completely dismiss notions of "panic attacks". My thought was "why can't they just take a breather and calm down?"
Then one day I smoked too much marijuana and then had to go to a kids birthday party whose family I didn't know. About 10 minutes in I had what I can only describe as a panic attack. My face turned gray. My heart was probably beating somewhere around 190bpm. I was sweating profusely. I had to leave the party and on my drive home I was worried I might suddenly die and then veer into traffic. I nearly drove myself to the emergency room because I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
If that was a panic attack, I can't imagine what it must be like to suffer something like that chronically. It was utter hell.
Then one day I smoked too much marijuana and then had to go to a kids birthday party whose family I didn't know. About 10 minutes in I had what I can only describe as a panic attack. My face turned gray. My heart was probably beating somewhere around 190bpm. I was sweating profusely. I had to leave the party and on my drive home I was worried I might suddenly die and then veer into traffic. I nearly drove myself to the emergency room because I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
If that was a panic attack, I can't imagine what it must be like to suffer something like that chronically. It was utter hell.