Panic Attacks, Explained.

For anyone who has had a sudden wave of fear with a racing heart, shortness of breath, or dizziness, and wants to understand it.

A panic attack arrives fast. Your heart pounds, your chest tightens, your breathing feels wrong, and your hands may tingle. Many people feel dizzy, sweaty, or detached from their surroundings. The fear is intense, and it usually peaks within a few minutes before it starts to ease.

What is happening is your body's alarm system firing at full strength without a real threat in front of you. Adrenaline speeds up your heart and breathing to prepare you to run or fight. Breathing fast lowers the carbon dioxide in your blood, which can cause tingling, lightheadedness, and the feeling that you cannot get enough air, even though you are taking in plenty.

Safety comes first. The symptoms of a panic attack overlap with medical problems, including heart problems. If you have new chest pain, fainting, or symptoms that feel different from anything you have had before, get checked by a medical provider. If you are unsure in the moment, call 911. A clear medical evaluation also makes therapy work better, because it removes a fear that keeps the cycle going.

Your brain learns that these sensations are uncomfortable but not dangerous.

Many people have one panic attack and never have another. For others, attacks repeat, and the bigger problem becomes the fear of the next one. People start avoiding the places where an attack happened, such as the grocery store, the freeway, or a crowded event. That avoidance can quietly shrink a person's life.

Panic feeds on interpretation. A racing heart feels like a heart attack. Dizziness feels like passing out. Feeling unreal feels like losing your mind. The fear of the sensation drives more adrenaline, which makes the sensation stronger. Breaking that loop is the heart of treatment.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for panic is one of the most effective treatments in mental health. It starts with understanding the body's alarm response, so the symptoms make sense instead of feeling like danger. Then you practice slower breathing with a longer exhale, which helps calm the nervous system.

The most powerful part is often interoceptive exposure. With your clinician, you deliberately bring on mild versions of panic sensations, such as spinning in a chair to feel dizzy or running in place to raise your heart rate. Over time, your brain learns that these sensations are uncomfortable but not dangerous.

Treatment also looks at safety behaviors, the small habits that feel protective, such as always sitting near an exit, carrying water everywhere, or never driving alone. Gradually letting go of these habits helps you trust your own body again.

During an attack, the goal is not to make it stop instantly. It is to let it pass without adding more fear. Name what is happening, slow your exhale, and stay where you are if you safely can. Leaving the situation brings relief in the moment, but it teaches your brain that the place was dangerous. Riding out the wave teaches the opposite.

Telehealth fits panic treatment well. Many people with panic dread the drive to an office or the waiting room itself. Starting care from home removes that barrier, and later in treatment, your clinician can coach you through practicing in the places you have been avoiding.

If panic attacks are shaping where you go and what you do, that is reason enough to start. PHP covers outpatient therapy for anxiety and panic when it is medically necessary, with no referral required.

Getting started takes a few minutes. Submit our intake form at www.pacmhs.com/connect and we will reach out within one hour between 8am and 8pm, or by 9am the next morning to verify your PHP coverage and get your first session scheduled. You can also press the Get Started button below, which takes you to the same form.