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How To Be A Good Person When You’re Having a Panic Attack
In a parking lot, a man who would soon wash my car waited while I frantically searched for my mask. I was at the shops to buy a new medication that would, ironically, help control a panic attack. My embarrassment and overwhelm grew heavier and louder with each thud of my heart.
No matter what your own unique brand of panic attack looks like, the chemical response in your brain is the same — its fear. Some trigger has set you off into a physical fear response. It doesn’t matter if you’re safe or nothing is ‘wrong’ — your body fully launches into fight or flight.
During a panic attack, concentrating or ‘calming down’ is impossible. No matter how many deep breaths you take, that adrenaline keeps pumping.
This makes it common to lash out or treat those around you in less than forgiving ways. Your body thinks it’s in massive danger, and your focus has narrowed down to a very small space.
I’ve lashed out at plenty of people. Strangers, friends, partners, family. They never know what’s going on inside. They can never understand the overwhelming flood of frantic thoughts. In my heightened state, every look they make seems critical…
