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.