What Panic Attack Really Feels Like

Like everybody else, my high school life was about attending classes, playing sports, looking forward to graduation and going to college. Everything was normal until one afternoon. When I was in my American History class thinking about the notes I was taking, all of the sudden, my brain felt like it was going numb. My body felt weak and I had an overwhelming sense that something was wrong. I felt like I was dying. I was terrified. I had no idea what was happening to me and why I had the strongest urge to run out of the classroom. And I ended up walking out of class and going to an empty room where I stood there, dizzy and in shock until I called my mom and had to explain that I felt like I was going to die. I soon knew that I experienced, what is called, a panic attack.

There was seemingly no trigger to this panic, and it sprung upon me without warning. Ever since that day, for about a year, I would go to school having upwards of 10 panic attacks a day and in constant fear of when the next one would come. It was debilitating. I started attending therapy, and five years after that first panic attack, I can confidently say that I have successfully managed my panic disorder. 

This is the true story about what a panic attack really feels like. Unfortunately, there are many people who have experienced similar situations to mine; panic disorder is real and affect millions of people everyday.