What Your Body Is Really Doing During Panic
What's actually happening during a panic attack, why they feel so terrifying, and what makes them eventually stop. Understanding is the first step to taking back control.
What Is a Panic Attack?
Understanding what's really happening
A panic attack is one of the most frightening experiences a person can have. Your heart pounds. You can't breathe. You feel like you're dying, losing control, or going crazy. Every part of your body screams that something is terribly wrong.
But here's what you need to know: a panic attack is your body's protection system firing when there's no real danger. It's a false alarm — an extremely convincing, terrifying false alarm, but a false alarm nonetheless.
Your brain has a threat-detection system that evolved millions of years ago. When it senses danger, it triggers the fight-or-flight response — a full-body activation designed to help you survive. In a real emergency, this response could save your life.
The problem is, this system can get triggered by things that aren't actually dangerous: a stressful thought, a physical sensation, a memory, or sometimes nothing identifiable at all. When that happens, you get all the physical intensity of a life-or-death response... without the actual threat.
What You'll Get From This Guide
After reading this guide, you'll understand:
- What's physically happening — The specific symptoms and why each one occurs
- The timeline of a panic attack — How they build, peak, and always end
- Why it feels dangerous but isn't — The biology that makes it safe
- Why it feels like you're dying — And why that feeling is a trick
This matters because: Fear of panic attacks often becomes worse than the attacks themselves. When you understand what's happening, panic loses some of its power over you. Knowledge is your first defense.
What It Feels Like
The symptoms and why they happen
During a panic attack, your body unleashes a flood of stress hormones — primarily adrenaline. This causes a cascade of physical symptoms that happen all at once. The intensity is what makes it so terrifying.
Heart & Chest
- Racing or pounding heart
- Chest pain or tightness
- Heart feels like it's skipping
Breathing
- Can't catch your breath
- Feeling of choking
- Hyperventilating
Body Sensations
- Tingling or numbness
- Sweating or chills
- Shaking or trembling
- Dizziness or lightheaded
Mind & Perception
- Feeling unreal or detached
- Fear of dying
- Fear of losing control
- Sense of impending doom
Why Each Symptom Happens
Racing Heart & Chest Tightness
Your heart beats faster to pump blood to your muscles — preparing you to fight or run. The chest muscles tense up too. This can feel like a heart attack, but it's not. Your heart is healthy; it's just working hard because your brain told it to.
Can't Breathe / Hyperventilating
You breathe faster to take in more oxygen. But you're not exercising, so the oxygen has nowhere to go. This over-breathing lowers carbon dioxide in your blood, which causes tingling, dizziness, and the feeling that you can't get enough air — even though you actually have plenty.
Tingling, Numbness, Dizziness
These come from hyperventilation (breathing too fast). When carbon dioxide levels drop, blood vessels constrict slightly, causing tingling sensations and lightheadedness. It feels scary, but it's completely harmless and reverses as soon as your breathing normalizes.
Sweating or Chills
Your body regulates temperature in preparation for physical action. Sweating cools you down for the fight. Chills happen as blood rushes to your core and muscles, leaving your skin temporarily cold. It's uncomfortable but not dangerous.
Feeling Unreal / Detached
This is called depersonalization or derealization. When stress hormones flood your brain, perception can shift. Things feel dreamlike, you feel disconnected from yourself. This is your brain protecting you from overwhelming stress — not a sign you're losing your mind.
Important: These symptoms are not signs of danger. They're signs that your body is doing exactly what it's designed to do when it perceives a threat. The symptoms themselves cannot hurt you.
How Panic Attacks Work
The rise, peak, and fall
One of the most important things to understand about panic attacks is this: they always end. Every single one. They cannot last forever because your body simply cannot sustain that level of activation.
The Typical Timeline
Key fact: Panic attacks typically peak within 10 minutes and rarely last longer than 20-30 minutes at full intensity. If you feel symptoms lingering for hours, that's usually residual anxiety or fear of another attack — not the panic attack itself continuing.
Knowing this timeline is powerful. When you're in the middle of a panic attack, it feels like it will go on forever. But it won't. If you can remember "this will peak in about 10 minutes and then start to fade," you give yourself something to hold onto.
Why Panic Attacks Are Safe
The fears vs. the facts
During a panic attack, your mind generates terrifying interpretations of what's happening. These feel absolutely true in the moment. But they're not. Here's what the fears say — and what's actually happening.
"I'm having a heart attack."
Panic attack symptoms can feel like heart attack symptoms. But there are key differences: heart attack pain is usually crushing and gets worse with exertion. Panic symptoms fluctuate and don't worsen with physical activity. A healthy heart can handle racing — that's literally what it's designed to do. If you've had panic attacks before and your heart has been checked, the racing is not damaging your heart.
"I'm going to stop breathing / suffocate."
The feeling of not getting enough air comes from hyperventilating — you're actually taking in too much oxygen, not too little. Your body has automatic systems that won't let you stop breathing, even if you try. The worst that can happen from hyperventilation is dizziness or tingling, not suffocation.
"I'm going crazy / losing my mind."
That disconnected, unreal feeling is frightening, but it's a normal stress response called dissociation. It's temporary and doesn't indicate mental illness. People with panic attacks don't "go crazy." The fear of going crazy is actually a symptom of the panic attack itself, not evidence of mental deterioration.
"I'm going to faint."
Fainting happens when blood pressure drops suddenly. In a panic attack, blood pressure actually rises. So fainting during panic is extremely rare. The lightheadedness comes from breathing changes, not from impending collapse. You might feel like you'll faint, but you almost certainly won't.
"I'm going to lose control / do something embarrassing."
People having panic attacks sometimes fear they'll scream, run away, or do something humiliating. But this virtually never happens. During panic, you're actually hyper-aware, not out of control. You might flee the situation, but that's a choice — your body is working, your mind is present.
The bottom line: No one has ever died from a panic attack. No one has ever gone permanently crazy from one. No one's heart has given out. Panic attacks are intensely uncomfortable, but they are not medically dangerous.
Common Challenges
What to do when understanding isn't enough
Knowing what panic is doesn't make it disappear. Here's what many people struggle with — and how to think about it.
"But my panic feels different. It feels worse."
Every panic attack feels unique, but they all share the same biology. The same hormones, the same fight-or-flight response, the same timeline. Your brain is very good at convincing you that THIS time is different. It's not. The mechanisms are identical — even when the terror feels unprecedented.
"I've read this, but I still panic."
Understanding panic doesn't prevent it. What it does is change your relationship with it. Instead of believing "I'm dying," you might think "my body thinks I'm in danger, but I'm not." That shift — even a small one — is powerful. Over time, it weakens panic's grip.
"I can't remember any of this when I'm actually panicking."
That's completely normal. During panic, your thinking brain goes offline. That's why you read this between attacks — you're training your brain to recognize the pattern. Each time you review this information, it gets a little more embedded. Eventually, some of it will be there when you need it.
Using This in Daily Life
Building familiarity that helps when it counts
This guide is most useful when you're not panicking. Here's how to make it work for you.
Read This Between Attacks
The best time to read this is when you're calm. Your brain absorbs information better when it's not flooded with adrenaline. Revisit this guide periodically — each reading helps embed the knowledge deeper.
Create a Mantra
Pick a short phrase you can remember even when panicking:
"False alarm. Not dangerous. Will pass."
Say this to yourself when you feel panic rising. You don't have to believe it fully — just planting the thought helps.
Notice Early Warning Signs
Pay attention to how your panic starts. Do you get a tight chest first? Racing thoughts? A flutter in your stomach? The earlier you notice, the more time you have to remind yourself: "This is the beginning of a panic attack. I know what this is. It will peak and pass."
Build Familiarity
The more you understand your symptoms, the less scary they become. Some people find it helpful to write down what they experience during panic: "My heart races. I feel dizzy. I think I'm dying. It lasts about 15 minutes." Seeing it written down makes it more predictable, and predictable is less terrifying.
Quick version: Once you've internalized this guide, you can summarize it in three truths: (1) It's a false alarm, (2) The symptoms are harmless, (3) It always ends.
What to Remember
The key takeaways
Key Takeaways
- Panic attacks are false alarms — Your fight-or-flight system firing when there's no real danger
- The symptoms feel dangerous but aren't — Racing heart, breathing changes, tingling are all harmless
- They always end — Usually peak within 10 minutes and fade within 20-30 minutes
- You're not dying, going crazy, or losing control — These fears are symptoms of panic, not reality
Remember: A panic attack is your body's protection system working too hard. It feels like an emergency, but it isn't one. The symptoms cannot hurt you. And every panic attack ends.
Your Next Step
You don't have to do everything at once. Here's one thing you can do today:
Understanding panic attacks is the foundation. The next step is learning what to do during one — check out the Panic Attack First Aid guide for specific techniques to use in the moment.
Understanding panic doesn't make it instantly disappear. But over time, knowledge chips away at panic's power. The more you understand, the less it controls you. You're already taking that first step.
💜 Bring this back to therapy
Notice what happens next time you feel panic rising. Which symptoms are strongest for you? What thoughts go through your mind? What triggered it (if you can tell)? How long did it take to come down? These observations are valuable — bring them to your next session.
Want to keep this handy? Print this guide so you can reference it when you need a reminder of what's really happening.
This resource is intended to support—not replace—your work with a licensed therapist. It provides information and exercises based on evidence-informed approaches, but is not a substitute for professional mental health treatment. If you're in crisis or need immediate support, please contact your therapist or a crisis helpline.