Panic Attacks: Understanding What's Happening and Finding Your Way Through
You are not dying. You are not going crazy. Your body is doing something it was designed to do, just at the wrong time.
If you're reading this during or right after a panic attack, take a breath. You're safe. What just happened, or what keeps happening, is frightening. But it is not dangerous. And it can be understood.
This page is here to help you make sense of what's going on. Whether this is your first panic attack or your hundredth, you deserve clear information and a steady voice. Not a lecture. Not a list of things you should be doing differently. Just honesty about what panic is, why it happens, and what can actually help.
What a panic attack actually is
A panic attack is your nervous system's alarm going off at full volume. It's the same system that would activate if you were in real, immediate danger. The fight or flight response. The one that floods your body with adrenaline and cortisol so you can run, fight, or freeze in the face of a threat.
The problem is, during a panic attack, there's usually no visible threat. Your body is responding as though something terrible is happening, but nothing in your environment explains why. That mismatch is part of what makes panic so terrifying. Your body is screaming danger, and your mind can't find the source.
This doesn't mean you're imagining it. The physical sensations are completely real. Your heart rate increases. Your breathing changes. Your muscles tense. Your body is doing exactly what it's supposed to do in the face of perceived threat. It's just that the threat isn't external. It's coming from inside the system itself.
Understanding this can take some of the fear out of the experience. Not all of it. But some. A panic attack is not a sign that something is medically wrong with your heart or your lungs. It's a sign that your nervous system has become highly reactive, and it needs support in learning to come back down.
What a panic attack feels like
Panic doesn't announce itself politely. It tends to arrive suddenly and without warning. One moment you're fine. The next, your body is in full alarm.
You might feel your heart racing or pounding so hard you can feel it in your throat. Your chest might tighten, and it can feel like you can't take a full breath. Some people describe a sense of the room closing in, or a feeling of unreality, as though you're watching yourself from the outside.
There can be dizziness. Tingling in your hands or face. Nausea. A wave of heat. Trembling. A sudden, overwhelming urge to leave wherever you are.
And underneath all of that, a deep, visceral conviction that something is very wrong. That you're having a heart attack. That you're about to pass out. That you might die.
Many people who experience their first panic attack end up in the emergency room. And when the tests come back normal, the confusion only deepens. Because the experience was real. The fear was real. But the body wasn't in danger.
That gap between what your body felt and what was actually happening is one of the hardest things about panic. It can make you feel like you can't trust your own system. For some people, that distrust deepens into health anxiety, a pattern of scanning the body for signs that something is medically wrong.
Your body is screaming danger, and your mind can't find the source. That mismatch is part of what makes panic so terrifying.
Your first panic attack vs recurring panic
A first panic attack often comes out of nowhere. There may be no obvious trigger. You might have been sitting in traffic, standing in line, lying in bed at night, or in the middle of an otherwise ordinary day.
For some people, it happens once and doesn't return. For others, it becomes the beginning of a pattern. The memory of that first attack stays in the body. And the fear of it happening again can become its own source of anxiety.
This is where panic starts to change shape. It's no longer just about the attack itself. It's about the anticipation. The scanning. The constant background question of, what if it happens again?
You might start noticing that you avoid certain places or situations. Not because anything bad happened there, but because your body has linked that context with panic. This kind of chronic worry about the next attack can become as exhausting as the attacks themselves.
Recurring panic doesn't mean you're getting worse. It means your nervous system has gotten stuck in a loop. And loops can be interrupted.
Panic attacks vs panic disorder
Not everyone who has panic attacks has panic disorder. The distinction matters, not for labeling purposes, but because it can help you understand where you are and what kind of support might help.
Occasional panic attacks can happen to anyone, especially during periods of high stress, burnout, major life transitions, or grief. They may come and go without forming a lasting pattern.
Panic disorder is when the attacks become recurrent and are accompanied by ongoing fear of future attacks, significant changes in behavior to avoid them, or both. You might start avoiding driving, crowded spaces, being far from home, or situations where escape feels difficult. In some cases, this avoidance can narrow your world significantly, a pattern sometimes called agoraphobia.
If your life has started shrinking because of panic, that's a sign the pattern has taken root. Not a sign that you're failing. A sign that your system needs help finding its way back to safety.
The avoidance cycle
Here's the part that makes panic so persistent. The avoidance feels like it's helping. And in the short term, it is. If you leave the situation, the panic subsides. If you avoid the trigger, you don't have to feel it.
But avoidance teaches your nervous system the wrong lesson. It confirms that the situation was dangerous. That the only way to feel safe is to stay away. And over time, the list of things to avoid grows.
First it's the highway. Then it's the grocery store at peak hours. Then it's the restaurant with no easy exit. Then it's anywhere unfamiliar. The world gets smaller, and the anxiety doesn't actually decrease. It just shifts to a new edge.
This cycle isn't a character flaw. It's a survival strategy that has become self-reinforcing. Breaking it doesn't require forcing yourself through fear. It requires understanding the loop and gently building your system's capacity to tolerate what it has been avoiding.
For many people, panic is connected to other patterns of anxiety that have been running for a long time. Sometimes the panic is the loudest expression of a system that has been quietly overloaded for years, often in ways that looked like high-functioning anxiety or chronic stress before the panic emerged.
What to do during a panic attack
If you're in the middle of a panic attack right now, here are a few things that can help your system begin to settle.
Grounding during a panic attack
- 1Remind yourself of what is happening. This is a panic attack. It is not a medical emergency. It will pass. Your body is safe, even though it doesn't feel that way.
- 2Try to slow your exhale. You don't need to breathe deeply. Just let your out-breath be a little longer than your in-breath. This signals your nervous system to begin shifting out of alarm mode.
- 3Feel your feet on the floor. Press them down gently. Notice the texture of the ground beneath you. If you're sitting, feel the weight of your body in the chair.
- 4Name five things you can see. Not to distract yourself, but to gently remind your brain that you are here, in this room, in this moment. Not in danger.
- 5If you can, place a hand on your chest or your stomach. Not to control your breathing, but just to feel the contact. Sometimes the warmth of your own hand is enough to begin to settle the system.
And if none of this works right away, that's okay too. The attack will pass. They always do. Usually within a few minutes, though it can feel much longer.
What matters most is not doing it perfectly. What matters is learning, over time, that you can ride it out. That you are not helpless in the face of it.
How therapy helps with panic attacks
Therapy for panic attacks isn't just about learning coping techniques. It's about changing your relationship with panic itself.
In individual therapy, we work to understand what your nervous system is responding to. Sometimes panic has a clear trigger. Sometimes it doesn't. But there is almost always a pattern underneath, a way the body has learned to signal danger, even in the absence of threat.
We explore that pattern carefully. We look at when the panic started, what was happening in your life at the time, and what your system may have been carrying before the first attack. Sometimes panic shows up after a period of sustained stress or emotional suppression. Sometimes it's connected to earlier experiences that left the nervous system on high alert.
Therapy also involves working directly with the body. Not forcing exposure or pushing you into situations that feel unsafe, but gently expanding your capacity to tolerate the sensations that panic brings. Over time, the intensity softens. The recovery time shortens. And the fear of the next attack begins to loosen.
This isn't about eliminating panic entirely. It's about building a foundation where your system doesn't need to sound the alarm as often or as loudly.
Somatic, relational, and trauma-informed
Leanne works with panic from a somatic, relational, and trauma-informed perspective. What that means in practice is that we don't just talk about panic. We work with what's happening in the body when panic shows up.
Many people who experience panic have been through approaches that focus primarily on cognitive strategies. Challenging thoughts, rating anxiety levels, building exposure hierarchies. Those tools have value, but they often miss the body. And panic lives in the body.
Leanne's approach includes paying close attention to nervous system activation. We track what happens in your body during sessions, not to create distress, but to help you notice the early signals before panic escalates. Over time, this builds a different kind of awareness. One that gives you more choice in how you respond.
The relational piece matters too. For many people, panic is isolating. Having a steady, attuned presence in the room can itself be part of what helps the system settle.
Leanne offers both in-person sessions in Kitchener-Waterloo and virtual therapy across Ontario.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is completely normal to have questions before reaching out.
No. Panic attacks are deeply uncomfortable and frightening, but they are not medically dangerous. The symptoms you feel, racing heart, shortness of breath, chest tightness, are caused by your nervous system's alarm response, not by a problem with your heart or lungs. If you have concerns, it's always reasonable to check with your doctor. But if medical causes have been ruled out, what you're experiencing is panic.
They can seem to come out of nowhere, especially at first. But there is usually something happening beneath the surface, even if it's not obvious. It might be accumulated stress, a nervous system that has been running on high for too long, or something emotional that hasn't been fully processed. Part of therapy is gently uncovering what's underneath.
Panic disorder is typically characterized by recurrent panic attacks along with ongoing fear of future attacks and changes in behavior to avoid them. If panic has started to affect your daily decisions, your willingness to go places, or your sense of safety in the world, it's worth exploring with a therapist.
Yes. Therapy, especially approaches that work with the body and the nervous system, can significantly reduce the frequency and intensity of panic attacks over time. It doesn't happen overnight, but many people experience real, lasting shifts.
Not in the way you might be imagining. Leanne's approach is not about pushing you into distress. It's about building your system's capacity gradually, at a pace that feels safe. There is no forcing. There is no flooding. The work is collaborative and always respects where you are.
Yes. Nocturnal panic attacks are common and can be especially disorienting because they wake you from sleep. The same nervous system activation that causes daytime panic can fire during rest, particularly if your system has been under chronic stress.
Yes. Virtual therapy is available across Ontario and works well for many people. Some prefer the convenience and comfort of being in their own space, especially if leaving the house feels difficult right now. In-person sessions are also available in Kitchener-Waterloo.
You don't have to keep white-knuckling your way through this
Panic can make you feel like you're alone in something that no one else would understand. Like your body has betrayed you and you can't trust it anymore.
But panic is one of the most understood and treatable patterns in anxiety. Your body hasn't broken. It's learned a response that no longer serves you. And with the right support, it can learn a different one.
If you're ready to start, you can book a free consultation. It's a conversation. Quiet, unhurried, and completely confidential. Just a chance to talk about what you've been experiencing and explore whether therapy feels like the right next step.