For us who suffer from panic attacks our deepest fear is that we are in fact not a experiencing a panic attack at this very moment. That this time it really is a heart attack. That it is genuinely a stroke. That we are having a seizure of some kind. That something terrible is about to happen in our body, and we are dying at this very moment. Or at the very least that we are going insane.
At the same time our deepest embarrassment is that is a panic attack and that we will told at the emergency room that it’s all our imagination. With pity and sympathy. Or impatiently, if the staff is exhausted from handling 'really' ill people ... while we wasted their energy, time and resources.
We also fear the guilt of having upset our family – yet again. And then there is the fear of losing face in front of colleagues and friends. Some of whom may stop taking us seriously. We also fear losing out on our status, standing and respect in our family, among our friends, in our work set-up and in our community circles.
On top of it all we experience deep humiliation in ourselves. After all, we should be capable enough to handle this. Haven’t we been through war, accidents, divorces, financial stress, 9/11 and retrenchment? Haven’t we dealt with huge challenges successfully? Yes, we have ... and surely as successful, coping adults we should be able to manage ourselves better than to succumb to a panic attack?
True, if we are indeed experiencing a panic attack. Ons way to make sure you are indeed having a panic attack right now is to complete the panic attack symptom self-tester and make sure for yourself.