Panic Attacks and Fear: How Andriy Regained Control of His Life

"There is perhaps no field of human activity and no object that cannot suddenly become the subject of irrational fear," stated American psychologist Roger Callahan. And he was right.

We are used to considering fear as something bad, an emotion that needs to be "conquered" or hidden. But is fear really the enemy? Or is the problem that our internal compass has broken and started perceiving an office chair as a saber-toothed tiger?

Let's figure out where the line lies between a healthy instinct for self-preservation and a panic disorder that turns life into hell, using the story of our hero, Andriy.

Andriy is a successful man. He has everything considered attributes of happiness: a career in a management position, a loving wife Olena, a house, a good car, and even plans to buy a small yacht. From the outside, his life seems ideal.

But one day, returning from an important meeting, Andriy felt something terrible. "Suddenly I felt sick," he recalls. "My heart was pounding wildly, there wasn't enough air, I started to choke. Cold sweat ran down my face, my arms and legs went numb. The world around me became somehow cardboard, unreal. I thought: 'This is the end. I am going crazy or dying.'"

Andriy abruptly pulled over to the side of the road, jumped out of the car without even turning off the engine, and dialed Olena with trembling hands. He never returned to work that day.

Doctors delivered the verdict: Panic Syndrome. Unfounded fear. But what was Andriy afraid of? His enemy was invisible. It was the fear of losing everything: status, health, financial stability. This is a typical picture for a modern person — social phobias are displacing the fear of spiders or heights.

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Fear in itself is a brilliant survival mechanism. When people fled the Twin Towers in New York in panic on September 11, 2001, fear saved their lives. It mobilized energy, released adrenaline, and forced muscles to work faster to run away from danger.

But for people with panic disorder, this mechanism fires "blank shots." There is no fire, no tiger, no real threat. There is only a conversation with the boss or a thought about the future. And the body reacts as if you are on the edge of an abyss.

Psychoanalyst Horst-Eberhard Richter believes that the reason lies in the "morality of ostentatious well-being." We are obliged to be successful, smiling, and productive. There is no place for the weak. This pressure generates colossal internal tension. Fear of becoming a failure, fear of judgment, fear of the future — these are the new viruses of our consciousness.

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According to the classification of the American Psychiatric Association, a panic attack is indicated by the presence of at least four of these symptoms simultaneously:

If you recognize yourself, know this: you are not going crazy. This is a biochemical glitch that can be corrected.

The worst advice you can give a person in anxiety is "just wait it out" or "pull yourself together." Avoiding situations that cause fear turns a person into a prisoner in their own home.

Medication can relieve an acute condition, but it does not teach you to live in a new way. True healing comes through understanding yourself and changing thought patterns.

Remember, fear is just an emotion. It is strong, but you are stronger.

Read more articles about psychological health in our blog. Read MriyaRun Publications